


Slighting The Reaper

by Rhigama



Series: Slighting The Reaper [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Adult Situations, Dark, Explicit Language, Inappropriate Humor, Multi, Torture, VERY MINIMAL Sasuke/Naruto, some sexual content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-09
Updated: 2015-04-19
Packaged: 2018-02-04 00:45:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 41
Words: 373,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1761019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhigama/pseuds/Rhigama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You are a kunoichi of many talents, and all is going well in your life until a decision made on your behalf leads the denizens of your hometown to certain doom. As a result you sever your ties with the village of your birth, and venture out into the world beyond, leaving misery in your wake.</p><p>And all the while, temporarily unbeknownst to you, Akatsuki's Leader prepares to make an offer you aren't likely to refuse...</p><p> </p><p>Pairings:</p><p>TEMPORARY Deidara/Reader/Sasori<br/>EVENTUAL Itachi/Reader<br/>MINOR Reader/Others (If you tilt your head and squint, for some.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hatred Born

**Author's Note:**

> Rhig: Hello to one and all! I completely forgot I had an account here and, that being said, I've been searching for a good place to post my fanfictions after the last site I was on was taken down...and, on account of not liking certain social media websites, I will remain in the dark about the circumstances surrounding that. 
> 
> This being said, in the off chance anyone reading this has seen this fanfiction before, I will admit that this is an amended version of StR:1. It will take some time for me to repost everything due to the sheer volume of chapters and the amount of editing I must undertake, things that I missed I wanted to fix, so on. Also, if you are one of those who read this before, you'll possibly remember that this was a fanfic where you could vote once upon a time. On account of how StR:1 is already finished, and I'm going to continue work on StR:2, the voting here at least obviously will be impossible, but, as ever, feedback is welcomed and encouraged despite that StR:1 is already completed. I'm always pleased to hear an opinion, but if you feel you must criticize, I request that you keep it to constructive criticism.
> 
> So to those who this is your first time seeing this fanfic, know that many of the things you see in here were a product of taking feedback into account during the writing process. This IS a fanfic where things do not necessarily follow the anime to the letter though various aspects of it have been wired in. Know that it was written at a time where Shippuden was hardly through its first few seasons, so if certain things are inaccurate, I apologize in advance. 
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> **  
> **  
> _EXPLANATION OF WRITING PRACTICES:_  
>   
> 
> As I am beginning anew here I figure all must be warned. Though I am aware there are tags and filters to go by I feel it needs to be said.
> 
> Harsh language/adult/immature humor is often utilized. Macabre and otherwise mature situations will often occurr in most of my fictions. However I am not a fan of pointless smut. I'd rather treat mature scenes in the sense of providing only a handful of details and then letting your mind run amok with the rest. Basically using SOME of the feathers and not the entire chicken, know what I'm sayin'? Now, if it weren't for the gutter my mind would be homeless...but there's enough erotic writings out there already without my help.
> 
> As for Reader-Insert fics; understand that I do NOT use 'descriptive blanks' or anything like [Your Name] or [Hair color] [h/c]. I have had emails sent to me on this subject, I've heard from people on instant messengers and forums, and the general consensus seems to be from that grouping that any fic where you need to use descriptive blanks ends up being read like:
> 
> "Your BLANK length lustrous BLANK hair flowed upon the currents of wind, framing your BLANK face and gemlike BLANK eyes...." 
> 
> In short, there are just as many who think that the 'descriptive blanks' take away from the reading experience as those who believe they actually add to a reader-insert. So basically, this is from 'Your' perspective, but I've given you a name, I've chosen the appearance, and that's just how it is...I'm already taking 'Your' character and making them go through the plot and make decisions, just like many other writers will do.
> 
> If I feel they are indeed required; I will utilize descriptive blanks only in the smallest capacity and as rarely as possible. I'm sorry if you don't approve but its just not my style to use them and remember...I'm reading these stories too, even if I write them. I have to edit, don't I? I won't even like writing these things if I have too many blankety-blank-blanks involved.
> 
> And yes, I do understand that part of the irony of how this is going to be written is that its all written like 'You did this' or 'You did that', and you'll likely not read it as 'I did this' or 'I did that'. To be perfectly honest, I don't like writing from 'I' or 'My' perspective, either, for a couple reasons.  
>  
> 
> Deidara: This’ll be interesting, un…
> 
> Rhig: I hope so. 
> 
> Tobi: Rhi doesn’t own Naruto, but she does own the plot! 
> 
> Rhig: Meh I suck at titles. ._. I need to think of better ones. This first chapter starts in a bit of a timewarp, but shifts to the present. It explains a lot about you. But don’t worry, I won’t be spoiling every little thing about your abilities and such, because I gotta have a few aces up my sleeve…right? :3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You've lived in the Hidden Grass Village all your life. By that logic alone, any decent person would rather die than lift a hand against the place of their birth, against those whom they've been around all their life.
> 
> Except...you aren't 'most people', and your moral compass doesn't point due north. Apparently that particular issue is genetic, because your family, along with a few others, make a decision without your consent that will bring the village lasting life.
> 
> Fools.

**Slighting The Reaper**

**Hatred Born**

_The Grass Country; One rainy afternoon many months ago…_

 

It had been raining for a week and a half by now, and you knew it couldn’t be a good sign. You had a feeling gnawing at your insides, the kind of sensation that tells you when something bad is afoot. Standing on the porch of the home you lived in with your parents and three brothers, you placed a delicate looking hand on a support post that held up the overhang above the porch. One of your brothers was sitting down at the farthest corner of the porch, his back to the railing, attempting to fold white origami into paper cranes. He hadn’t managed to make a single one yet, and all his wasted attempts where scattered before him, speckled with stray droplets of rain blown on the slanting winds. He was becoming increasingly frustrated with this. But his sensei ordered him to make five thousand cranes by their next training session and then save them for a later time, though saving them seemed a trifle foolish in your mind. Admittedly, this exercise was to help with making him more nimble of hand. Not that he could be helped. The boy was a klutz in every sense of the definition, and this was only one reason why he didn’t seem related to _you_ …a skilled jounin. 

The streets nearby were not exactly bustling with activity. People huddled away from the rain or else braved it in cloaks and wide-brimmed hats. They might just catch their deaths of cold, and if so, you would be called to help them in their time of need.

You are an extremely talented medical ninja after all. Not only that, but you are a very good chef, practically the best at both things in all of the Grass Village. You were capable of nursing someone back to health and making them stronger than they were before they fell ill. Although this served you nicely for the slaughter as well; as no one remotely suspected you for the mass poisonings. It was probably because nobody realized that your talents didn’t only extend to medicine and food preparation. 

See, large groups of people would often die for apparently no cause. This whole village and some other villages were currently so low-key activity-wise because they were seething masses of sickness. Once you poisoned someone, it was nearly impossible to save them, and also hard to detect on the standard toxin screenings apart from telltale signs towards the end. Teams from other countries had been dispatched to discover the root of the problem and the reasons why such slaughterings would occur. But they didn’t even know where to begin, where this poisonous contagion came from or maybe not even _what from_ , but _who from_. In some cases, everyone didn’t die…they just suffered immeasurable amounts of torment. They each fell ill in different amounts of time, a time far enough away from whenever they ate your food at the restaurant. 

Were they wise shinobi, they would maybe surmise that whoever was behind all this human misery was merely playing. Toying, practicing, and experimenting. You wanted to exercise your prowess with herbs and chemicals and see just what you could do, and much to your pleasure, all the labor of years upon years of stressful training and work came to fruition. 

Your eyes danced with dark laughter at the struggling medics with a body on a stretcher between them. They hassled the limp form of a dying kunoichi to the medic building. This kunoichi, you realized, was one that ate at your workplace very often. They’d just taken her out of the restaurant, judging from the direction they arrived. She was always there around this time, and would sit at a table in the corner with a number of scrolls to peruse. Though lately you didn’t care who you killed off. The chefs that worked in the same kitchen as you had no idea that they were using ingredients laced with powdered or liquid poison. Being a chef part-time paid off in more than one way; it was quite productive for nurturing your talents. You tended to create work for yourself as a medic in this way, and medicial shinobi, like any other, are paid per the job.

Yet no one suspected your workplace. After all, you did fancy yourself as something of a genjutsu savant compared to the others living around here, and knew well enough how to brainwash someone with the flick of a finger or the passing glance of your eyes. While genjutsu is a far cry from your strongest talent; a little proficiency in that area went a long way around here for maintaining your cover if anyone got too close for comfort. But, alas, genjutsu was a talent you refused to divulge to the rest of the world. If you did, the element of surprise would be lost, and when no one is expecting it is when genjutsu is often at its most potent.

The fact that you were so decent at a variety of ninja arts plus chakra control as well as specializing in knowledge of weak spots of the body; was what earned you a place in many missions out of the country. With you on nearly any given team, no matter what the abilities of the other shinobi with you, a mission would hardly fail. An enemy would be paralyzed and helpless, or your team would remain in excellent health and able to withstand longer missions than average teams running without a medic. 

Indeed, you are a jounin who could become so much greater if you ever managed to make yourself any more formidable...especially in the department of eliminating weaknesses. If an enemy specializing in taijutsu ever got close, you’d be knocked flat. Which is why you were beginning to develop new techniques. On one mission in particular, you encountered Might Guy and Rock Lee. 

Most of the details will be spared, but the mission nearly ended in tears of pain. You could’ve gotten torn limb from limb by Guy, and Lee was on standby in case he needed help. Neji and Tenten arrived at the end of the fight, which is when Guy figured out what devilry you cast upon him with the power of your mind as a last-ditch effort to win the day and escape before anyone else stepped in. You had injured him badly, even going so far as to viciously attack pressure points and would’ve gone in for the kill….that is…if his mind and body didn’t snap out of it earlier than any other opponent of yours. 

That mission joined with a small list of others which you failed on since your genin days, another mark of failure that you cursed to this day. After all, your team mates had been taken into custody by Konoha and were still being interrogated as far as anybody knew. There was no way to get them back, and you had been forced to escape a heavily guarded hospital room when you awoke after Guy knocked you out in the end of your fight about three days ago. Still wounded, you’d barely escaped Konoha on that day; both ashamed of your losses and yet coldly proud that no one was coming back with you to speak of deep, dark secrets you would rather keep to yourself. When on long missions like that one, people tend to learn a lot about one another. Things best kept out of the public eye.

It’d been a month since that day. 

The medical ninja and ailing kunoichi were out of sight and everyone currently outdoors under the dripping wet overhangs of various buildings looked very much depressed. Was that any indication as to how they’d turn out if they got sick? What was the contagion? Why hadn’t anyone figured it out yet? How fucking hard could it be!?

“Saiya?” A soft voice asked from the doorway nearby, and you turned to see your mother standing there looking at you. She’d been within the house with your father, entertaining some company that had been there since before you woke up that morning. You never did go to see who it was, despite how rude it was not to greet a guest. Instead, due to a bad feeling braiding coils of tension in your gut, you endeavored to avoid the voices drifting from across the house.

“Yeah?” You asked. 

“Please come inside. We have great news.” She offered a lukewarm smile and went inside, you following close behind reluctantly. Inside one of the rooms your father and other two brothers were sitting. There were two others as well, and you only recognized one of them. It was an older man whom you avoided like the plague. His hair was turning silvery with age and he had begun to wrinkle. He lived in a small town not too far from the Grass Village, a town that the ninja council here wanted to make a lasting alliance with. This man was considered the head of the small town. He had vast wealth, but no one to pass it on to. He wanted to marry a kunoichi who could protect not just him, but the home and the money as well as the children that might be born from their union. All his previous wives seemed to mysteriously vanish before they reached the marriage bed. Evidently, this vexed him deeply enough to require something as desperate as a betrothal to a young bride.

Unfortunately you seemed to be the only one he wanted at this point. No one would consult with you on this topic of course. And why would they? Any sensible woman would refuse. But now you would be forced to wed him and thus bind the villages together for the good fortune of all.

…Right?

“We have decided.” Your father sounded very nervous. “That you are to be wed to this gentleman in three weeks.” 

Your eyes bore deep into your father’s, but there was nothing in them. No question. No emotion. Only a hollowness that overtook your whole being. This was all very sudden. They might be desperate, but you didn’t think they’d do something as quick and rash as _this_. The small town outside your village was rumored to of possibly discovered a way to remove the mysterious toxins affecting people’s health across the country, but the old man in this room was withholding it because he wished to have an heir and a woman that wouldn’t run away. 

“And before you say anything, you can’t refuse, and you aren’t allowed to leave.” One of your brothers said, making your dead gaze swivel in his direction. “…I see.” You murmured, then turned and walked from the room. “Excuse me-“

“-Get back here this instant!” Your father bellowed, only to be hushed by your bizarrely pleasant voice. “I’d like to make a toast towards the...” You searched for appropriate words. “…the future.” With a smile, you headed into the kitchen, saying, “I’ll go get the wine.” 

They were all dumbstruck. 

“I never thought she’d go for it.” Your mother admitted. “But she didn’t have a choice now did she?”

“No.” The one known as your father answered. Both your parents were reluctant to do this, but your brothers were jubilant…finally, they would be out of your shadow. You would not be able to train as much. They would become so much stronger than you. And they wouldn’t have an older sister to answer to about, well, anything anymore. 

So. The old guy was sick of his brides flying the coop. He wouldn’t have to worry about that with you. You would stay until the bitter end, and take good care of him. To take good care of your family, like a good girl should.

You put down the tray with some simple glasses filled three-quarters full of rice wine. It wasn’t the strongest sake. But it didn’t matter the potency. After all; the Gyaku Clan wasn't much in the way of a clan of ninja...most of your clansmen went into the family business of brewing alcohol, and drink bottled under the Gyaku emblem is coveted far and wide by those with discerning taste.

“To perfect chemistry. And good health.” You said, raising your glass. An amused chuckle ran through the room. Everyone seemed to think you meant the children that might come of the marriage. What else could it be, right?

Everyone agreed and raised their glasses, then downed the clear fluid within. Conversation resumed on a happy note. 

It wasn’t much later that they all perished…tongues swollen; sticky, foamy white saliva oozing from gaping mouths; pupils dilated to the fullest, bodies laying in tortured, twisted positions; flesh ashen in coloration. 

Your genin brother was hanging from a tree in the backyard as well. He was hanging upside-down with what looked close to 666 paper cranes littering the ground below him. His throat was sliced wide open so he bled out like a pig. 

You always _did_ call him a little porker, for all his second and third helpings of food. You figured he was plump enough for the slaughter. Might as well not leave him lonely. It’s not like you’d be around anymore after this. 

And it wasn’t just your clan and the old one and his friend that would be slain on this day. You went to work as though nothing happened right afterwards. No one knew that your home was now a gallery of the dead. But that wasn’t the only place that’d be littered with corpses.

Two hours went by from the time you signed into your part-time job as a cook. You never did get enough missions to fill the hours. But now you figured you’d have plenty of time to do what you wished. Today you tested out a new poison you’d been fabricating. And after two hours, many meals had been served. Many people would stagger out the doors, their eyes rolling up in shock, their hands outstretched and groping for something, anything or anyone to grab onto, searching for any source of help. Their bodies would be wracked with waves of pain, causing them to groan and cry out their agony. Spasms tore through them. Their movements were drunken and rigid.

All the while, you stood atop the roof of the restaurant, grass-ninja hitai-ate in one hand, a sharp kitchen knife in the other. A smirk, frigid in nature, wrested control of your lips. The scene unfolding before you was one of insanity. These people who were infected with your newly developed poison seemed to have a much different reaction to it than you thought they’d have. In fact, it seemed that the poison was multiplying into probably every bodily fluid quicker than anticipated. Their rational minds had been terminated. What was left was primitive instinct driven mad by your concoction, the pain was enough to erase their rationale. They were now…well…zombie-like? Cannibalistic? 

They were tearing at anything that moved, their instincts driving them to treat their own flesh as though it were a prison they must escape from. Their saliva, should it enter into another person’s blood, infected that other person right away.

Turning away from the chaos below, you dropped your hitai-ate and swiftly fell to your knees before it. A hand pressed it down. The other hand drew the kitchen knife across the metal of the headband very slowly, eliciting a brief shriek of metal.

There. It was done.

After that, you flipped the knife towards the ravaging horde and picked up the slashed headband. You left the Grass Village after that. 

You never got to see the shinobi of the village round up and slay every last infected person.

…It was all they could do.

 

_Present time, in the forest outside of Konoha…._

 

Yes. It all happened months ago, almost a year now. The people of the Grass Country knew by now that it had been you that sent a plague of poison upon them. In the end they’d been forced to purge the population of the afflicted by violent means. You caught wind of this not a day after it happened, and you had been found laughing hysterically at this.

It was just too good. They had to turn on their fellow man and woman to survive, and in doing so, nearly tore their own village up from its roots. So many died on that fateful evening that the Grass Country had to hasten to form any alliances that might support it in a time of utmost need. Although the smaller nations, not being led by anyone of Kage status, were not taken seriously. Konoha did extend a friendly hand, but the Earth Country remained xenophobic and the other nations mostly ignored any extensions of the olive branch. The Grass Country had recovered a bit since then, but it still would never be the same. That small town lead by the old, heirless man had crumbled into disrepair and became a ghost town now. Sometimes you went there if you wished to be left in peace. People said the place was haunted, but really it wasn’t. It was just your mind tricks.

Eventually that place became so dilapidated and uninhabitable that you were forced to move on. You never lived in one place too long. It was because ninja from the Grass and the Leaf hunted you day in and day out, as well as the usual handful of bounty hunters.

But as you ran with a few injuries from a closely-following pack of ANBU, you would find in the very near future that soon they wouldn’t be the only ones pursuing you.


	2. An Invitation Into Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Running through the woods you encounter three strange men from Akatsuki. After a small 'fight', you're on your way to meet their leader.  
> Life as you know it is about to contort into another form altogether.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rhig: Wow, I didn't think I'd have to do so much editing. I'm not nearly happy with the way I wrote things back then, all so very childish at that point in my life. Blah!! I hope if anyone who is familiar with this fanfic from the other place is reading it; that they don't find the changes to be too great a departure from what it was. I am merely attempting to right some wrongs.
> 
> Deidara: She doesn’t own Naruto, un.
> 
> Rhig: But if I did I wouldn’t have to worry about car insurance.

**An Invitation Into Darkness**

 

_At The Akatsuki Hideout..._

"Itachi." The familiar voice called. Leader was sitting in darkness across the room, his cruel grey eyes boring into Itachi's presently black orbs. "You will take Kisame and Zetsu to capture her." 

Kisame almost growled when he'd been informed of this about five minutes later. "What? Why three of us for one kunoichi?"

Itachi had said nothing to this, and moved onwards to round up Zetsu. They had to go, now, before she disappeared for another stretch of time.

 

_In A Forest Somewhere..._

The ANBU squad was still in hot pursuit of you. Damn, they were a persistent bunch. It was annoying to you at this point, simply because most people gave up the chase by now. No matter. You could handle them.

Though as you plowed straight by a particularly large tree and dashed right up the back of it to gain access to its extensive branches, you missed something that could be the stuff of a horror film. The almost girlish screams of terror drew your sight, even made you stop and wheel around to peer around one side of the tree trunk. But alas. Not an ANBU in sight. 

Just the bloodied remains of their clothes and whatever else they carried on them. The entire squad had been, quite literally it seemed, torn straight from their clothes and...hmm. Say. What DID happen anyway? 

You barely saw it, but there was a vanishing movement of ripples upon a patch of leaves and blood right between two sets of shredded clothes. The rippling movement was gone with the blink of an eye. You were quite positive that whatever made that movement had something--or everything--to do with it. Also, whatever killed those men was probably not a friend to you. It could just be some hungry beast. No, that didn't make sense. Beasts don’t just vanish, not in _that_ manner at least.

Pondering this, you turned...only to nearly bump into a man roughly your height with onyx eyes and raven hair. It startled you, but you didn't show it too much. Whether or not he noticed, it was impossible to say; he masked his emotions perfectly. Though you knew one thing for sure. Just from looking at him, with he wearing that telltale black cloak splotched with curvaceous red clouds...if he wanted you dead, you wouldn't be standing right now. 

Your amethyst eyes flickered towards the side when you heard someone land on the thick branch behind you. In the poorly sun-dappled lighting, your eyes flashed to a different shade of purple whenever you looked somewhere, as though they were multifaceted. 

"Dare I ask?" You murmured to the one in front of you. You could sense that you were essentially trapped from all directions. There was a third here. The third person was much harder to detect, probably to keep the upper hand here. Although, they haven't ever encountered a kunoichi like you before. You were something else, which is what their Leader, Pein, was aware of. He accounted for everything and wouldn't tolerate error. You were just too valuable and they needed you. 

"Our leader wants to see you." The one behind you piped up. You didn't even turn to acknowledge him. 

"Piqued his interest, have I?" You drawled, now scanning the area around you. He was somewhere. The thing that killed those men. "Why doesn't he get off his lazy ass and see me himself?"

Kisame chuckled, and Itachi just 'hn'd' and folded his arms. "You will come with us. You have no choice."

"Figured as much." You said, raising a hand and brushing your long bangs away from your eyes. "I knew someone had an eye on me. It was only a matter of time, wasn't it?"

"It'd be wise to just come with us, lady." Kisame chimed in, vaguely amused. 

You lifted a shoulder, rotating it to loosen a small knot, mind churning up some recent events. For some time now you'd unknowingly remained in the approximate vicinity of the Akatsuki's hideout, where a chain of events unfolded. You'd witnessed the deaths of some members, and even seen an old woman sacrifice the rest of her life to save the jinchuuriki of the Ichibi, Gaara. After simply watching the old woman's life-transfer technique, you became hell bent on developing something similar of your own. It was a long process of trial and error...and the errors were most often people or animals that became mindless psycho/sociopaths as results of your experimentation. Experimentation that involved nearly no equipment or money. Just your own two hands and the tools you carried with you. It had been bound to draw someone's attention. You just never dreamed that the Akatsuki, of all unsavory organizations, would be the ones to swoop down upon you and snap you up. There were bound to be other people out there who wanted to get a hold of you just as badly. The Akatsuki just beat everyone else to the punch.

 

"I'm not coming without a price." You said at last, eyes moving from the ground below to the Uchiha before you. "Only one of you has to pay it. It doesn't cost much. In fact, you're probably going to think it's nothing." 

"And what's that?" Kisame asked.

"I want him to fight me." You said.

"Who...?" Kisame couldn't really tell where you were looking, as he was still behind you.

A smirk shaped your lips. Even Itachi didn't like the look of it. There was something undeniably evil in your tone of voice. "Itachi, is it?" You asked, lifting a hand and pointing one finger at him. "That's what I want...take it or leave it. But leave it, and leave me as well." You knew very well and good that they must really need your help or else only one of these men would've come to collect your alliance. But three? No. Their Leader wanted you badly for some reason or another.

"You're plotting something." Kisame grumbled. He was so used to hearing that tone in someone's voice he always knew what it meant.

"Am I that transparent?" You asked lightly, lowering your hand. "So?"

"...Very well." Itachi cut in, just before Kisame could interject. Even from behind, the shark man could tell that something wasn't quite right. Why ask for Uchiha Itachi, the prodigy, and the one that none could yet topple? It's a death wish. _Apparently_ you weren't planning on winning. At least...that's what Kisame thought.

Zetsu however saw this differently. In fact, he was shying away from you for a reason. You knew one another very well, both of you were from the same village after all, the Grass. But he knew you, and you knew him, and Zetsu knew well what you could do. He'd seen it.

He'd experienced it.

 

Zetsu was actually considering warning Itachi away from this duel, but he figured his words of caution would be wasted upon ears deafened by pride and sheer overconfidence. It's the Uchiha way, after all. He hadn't encountered one of them yet that _wasn't_ bloated with an ego for the ages. 

Itachi raised a hand from the depths of a dark, voluminous red-clouded sleeve, and lifted a finger straight towards you. "...I--" He cut off right there after he gave, 'the finger'. Your eyes were boring straight into his own. This is exactly what Zetsu figured would happen.  
He materialized into sight beside Kisame, and said quietly, "It is done."

"Nah, it isn't." Kisame objected.  
"He does not have a fucking chance if he underestimates her, Kisame."  
Kisame looked quite entertained at the lack of confidence in his partner, but said nothing.

 

_Between Two Minds..._

 

You smiled at the image of Itachi before you. He was stalk still. Actually he seemed entirely unable to move, even if he had effortlessly pulled you into his element; genjutsu mind games.

"Do you understand now, Itachi? Why I picked you out of the three?" You laughed and the sound echoed horribly off the confines of the little dimension that only the two of you were contained within. The noise was jarring, even if it wasn't the high, witchy laughter of an overconfident kunoichi. 

Itachi couldn't speak. His eyelids slammed shut, and he tried to collect his thoughts. He could get out of this. By the way...what HAD just happened? You'd done nothing. Not even...wait. Was it because you pointed at him earlier? No. He'd of noticed that when it happened. And that is a level of skill well beyond most ninja. 

"Don't worry. If we're going to be on the same organization, I don't intend to hurt you."

"What then?" He snarled thickly and lowly from between his clenched teeth. Though you could barely see his facial expression waver slightly due to the Akatsuki cloak and his eternal poker face. Itachi had been 'beaten', seemingly effortlessly, at his own game. It would have unnerved even him, if only for a moment, if he were a lesser man. He'd find a way out of this. He already knew what to do, now that he let you have your fun.

Upon sensing his readiness to throw the genjutsu off, you gave a genuine smile. "I only wanted to test this on you, the one who has mastered the Sharingan. Who better, after all?" It made sense. Using this on most anyone else was like gutting an unarmed innocent. Genjutsu, while not exactly rare, is also not a common talent. Finding an opponent with the proper amount of mental fortitude to practice upon can be a chore.

Thinking along these lines, Itachi's eyes narrowed a fraction. In this universe of yours, which was really just the same forest without Kisame or Zetsu's presence, he was paralyzed. Not only that, but severing the flow of chakra to his mind wasn't working either. He'd have to dispel it by a different means. Apparently he'd totally underestimated you, as you utilized the element of surprise properly. And to think. You haven't moved from that spot yet. Perhaps you couldn't. It takes a great deal of concentration and willpower to force a genjutsu spell of this sort upon an enemy, _especially_ one like himself. 

There was one simple way out of this that he could see, and that was to counter this genjutsu with one of his own. In concept, it would be child's play.

_In Reality..._

"Wow. They've been under for about three minutes." Kisame commented.

"She's biding her time." Zetsu's dark half muttered hollowly.

"Huh? You've seen this before?"

"I've _experienced_ this before." Zetsu grumbled, tone still devoid of feeling. He greatly disliked the memory. "I suggest that you help him."

Kisame was already on it. You never said anything about rules, after all! Kisame pulled the Samehada from his back, only to be stopped before charging.

"Unwise."  
"Hm?" 

Both sides of Zetsu heaved a sigh in tandem. Kisame wasn't particularly naive, but he also had no idea what they were looking at here. "If you hurt her, you hurt him. The same goes if you kill her. She has practiced on many others before. I see that she's improved since I last fought her, the damned bitch." 

Kisame lowered Samehada."Then..." His eyes moved from one to the other. He knew how to avoid disaster in the event of being caught in a Genjutsu, it was commonly taught in any ninja academy. One way was to have a partner. This is where he had to step in, but the situation sounded a bit deeper than that. He couldn't let it carry on too much longer if Zetsu was correct, and Kisame couldn't imagine him lying about it. That said, this _is_ Itachi, here, and he may simply be indulging your request for a few minutes before flipping the fight on its back.

 

_Between Two Minds..._

"Come ON, I know you can do it!" Your tone was upbeat. And of course it would be. Look at what you've done, and against an Uchiha at that! Though as your full attention lapsed, the raven haired male before you managed to struggle loose...and pulled you via mental whirlwind into a distorted world of his own.

In short, he Tsukiyomi'd you.

Now it was you whom was immobile.

Tied cruciform to something that you couldn't see (it was a T-shape jutting from the discolored ground), you were faced with no route of escape. You might have a sick mind, but his mind was perhaps a little nastier than you realized just from first glance. Who knew what slept beyond his emotionless facade?

All colors were opposite of what they should be in normal reality, black was white and so on. It certainly messed with your head, which is undoubtedly the intention.

But the sheer strangeness of this mental realm wasn’t what blew your mind. It was that there was actually someone who could shake your hold on them and not only just that…but this someone was about to beat you at your own game effortlessly, in the manner of one who has casually brushed aside a mosquito. What began as a trial run of your ‘malnourished’ genjutsu turned apparently serious. 

“My my, this is a compromising position.” You commented, glancing around, only to see Itachi advance towards you with slow, sure steps. “So now what’re you gonna do, ra—“

All went dark. And then abruptly, you found yourself in the forest once again. Kisame was standing beside Itachi, a large hand on his shoulder. He retracted it and then moved away. Itachi turned his red gaze towards his partner, silently reprimanding him, before merely turning and leaping away. You’d gotten what you wanted from him. Now you’d follow them as promised, right?

Kisame afforded you a curious glance, and you nodded and followed. “Alright. I’m sold.” You muttered. After that small, seemingly pointless standoff, you were convinced that there really was no saying ‘no’ to them, and that you had to make good on your word. Though you’d also wondered just how powerful these people were. Now you knew a little bit. Although you got the distinct impression that Itachi doesn’t lightly allow people to slip from his grasp. He’d been toying with you. Or perhaps he was _about_ to begin ‘toying’ with you when Kisame intervened.

Zetsu brought up the rear and made sure you didn’t try to slip away. He was curious as to what would possess you to make such a very un-you-like move. Why had you chosen Itachi, of all people…? His confidence might have been misplaced at first, he saw now that it didn’t matter how strong he thought you were; Itachi was able to beat you back which is something not many can say they’ve done. It helped him feel a bit better about the past, and his bitter defeat. Zetsu was ordinarily not one to obsess, and he truly was not one to rehash past occurrences, but something told him to remember that incident. To remember every last part of it for the future. It might hold relevance to something eventually. And he had a memory like a steel trap anyway. 

Soon enough you’d find yourself walking down a stone hallway with them, lit only by ensconced torches every so many feet. So far the Akatsuki hideout was somewhat unimpressive. 

“In here.” Kisame gestured to a large set of double doors. You looked at him blankly, then reached one delicate hand out to wrap your fingers around a single door handle and pull. The door was heavy yet perfectly balanced, and swung open with minimal encouragement. It swept quietly closed after you crossed over the threshold. In this room, darkness pressed in on your eyes, so badly was it lit. You felt as though you were being watched, and you were; you could very easily see the pair of strange eyes, ringed in different shades of grey, illuminated faintly from within by a color nearly described as faint steel purple. They were directly across from you, at the other end of the long and dark room. Other than his eyes, you had no idea what the rest of this person looked like. “Let me venture a guess. You’re the Leader?” 

“Yes.”

“Alright so, I hear you wanted to talk me. Are you going to stare, or actually say something?” You snapped impatiently, not liking this feeling of being at a disadvantage. All you could see was his eyes, nothing else. It put you on edge. You weren’t used to a situation like this. Regardless, he ignored your hair-trigger irritation. 

“We have need of your abilities, Gyaku Saiya, Grass Country malcontent. We have lost quite a few of our men.” The Leader told you. “It has become clear to me that we still require their services.”

“Just the four?” Finally. We are getting somewhere.

“Yes.” He said, and you saw the eyes narrow a little with laughter, perhaps with a touch of anticipation as well. Four? As in…the _number_ four? This would be your opportunity knocking, to take your skill in reanimation to a new level. “You do realize it will be nearly impossible to accomplish.” You informed him evenly, trying to stifle a grin. You’d _starved_ for more resistant subjects. You only hoped that these four people would be able to survive resurrection; you already knew what four he spoke of, for you’d watched them all die. Though each person handles it differently. What if they turned into freaks, like most of your resurrection experiments? Some people could handle it at first. Then they changed because of traces of your chakra that lingered within, or because of some other catalyst for change. 

“Though you would have one other assignment, should you accept.” Leader said. 

“I’m interested.” 

“You must track and kill Orochimaru and retrieve his ring. Once you do, the ring will be yours, and you would officially be a member of Akatsuki.” 

Much to his surprise, you smiled slyly. “That’s it? You couldn’t think of something harder for me? That’s the best you got, Leader-guy?”

"Yes, for now." His response was smooth as honey but not a tenth as sweet. He was utterly undeterred by your bravado. 

You laughed lightly, and flipped a few stray locks of hair out of your eyes. “One question, leader-guy.” 

“What?” He was doing his best to ignore the disrespect, which is something he usually doesn’t need to do. Most were fairly wise in their encounters with him, and kept polite. But any one slip-up, and he might end up kissing your alliance goodbye. That was something Akatsuki could ill afford right now, and he did _not_ want to resort to other measures where it could be avoided.

“When do I start?”

A moment’s pause. “Immediately.” 

He could barely believe his luck. You aren't the type to give in this easily. But not just that; these tasks he set upon you were huge. So huge, it was nigh unreasonable. But you accepted it without care! 

“Dismissed.” He said after another minute. 

You didn’t even say a word. You turned on your heel and left the dark room, only to nearly run into the one and only woman in the place other than yourself. “I’m Konan.” She informed you calmly. “I’m going to show you to your room. You can stay the night if you like, before you set out on your mission.”

“Sure. Oh, by the by,” You began. “Depending on how I have to bring certain people back to life, I might require certain things.”

“Oh, it won’t be an issue. You will have access to anything and everything you could possibly require.” Konan told you. She seemed pleasant enough. So far there were only three people like that: Kisame, her, and...ahem, _you_ , if you did say so yourself (and you did).

“There is a kitchen around here. I’ll let you find it on your own.” Konan said. “You are responsible for taking care of yourself, so don’t expect someone to cook for you.”

“I wouldn’t eat it if they did.” You muttered, making her raise an eyebrow. “Why?” She asked. “Do you think we’d poison you?"

“No, poison isn’t an issue for me. My taste buds, however, might run shrieking out of my mouth. I’m used to eating good food, and I can’t imagine you people hiring a five-star chef to work here.”

“True enough. That’s why we all fend for ourselves. It cuts out the irritation.” Konan said. “Here’s your room.” She opened the door for you and then handed you the key. You took it without thanks, and looked inside. By the time you looked back at her, she was gone, and you realized that you were more tired than usual. You would take out a slender scroll and then make a hand seal. A ‘poof’ later there was a pile of possessions on your bed, the previously used scroll buried somewhere beneath it all. After setting your possessions around the room, it was time to change into comfortable bed clothes and settle down for the night.

Tomorrow would probably be even crazier than today was.


	3. Gravedigger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is time to embark upon the very mission which Akatsuki sought you out for. First up; Hidan. And oh, is he ever a grouchy riser!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rhi: I decided to completely overhaul Hidan's revival. I like it better this way!
> 
> Tobi: She doesn't own Naruto!!
> 
> Rhi: It's nice to be writing again. :3

**Gravedigger**

 

You had previously figured that the day following your first night sleeping in the Akatsuki lair would be slightly more insane than the day before. Though this was correct, it was also an understatement. Today would be more trying and exhausting than anything. Already, you had an eager pumpkinhead following you and bombarding you with a thousand questions. Tobi seemed to of taken the greatest of interest in what it was you were about to set out to do. He was kind of adorable in his own way, but mostly he annoyed the hell out of you. Yet, he might be useful. 

“Tobi?” You asked sweetly, turning to the masked man. He brightened right away. “Yes Saiya-chan?”

Having known him but a day, he seemed so fond of you already. You couldn’t decide if it was cute or sickening. 

“I’d love it if you could help me out for a little bit. I won’t take up too much of your time, I promise, Orange-kun.” For, his mask also reminded you of an orange! And you liked oranges better than pumpkins.

“You can take up all of my time if you want, Saiya-chan!” He exclaimed, positively thrilled that you actually _wanted_ his help. Everyone else just shooed him away with several promises of harm if he didn’t just stop bugging them. Man, was he ever in the wrong organization. Tobi was so different than the others, certainly the cheeriest of the bunch as it stands. But then again, you only had seen one side of him. And there were others whom you haven't met face to face; the ones still to be awoken from the less-than-eternal slumber.

“Okay, settle down Orange-kun.” You told him with a saccharine smile. Not knowing his true nature for sure, and this being a criminal organization, it was best to try and remain in his good graces for the time being. Besides, it was a little while ago that the first patient on the list was butchered into bits, and you didn't exactly mark the location down on a map. “Please show me where Hidan was defeated? Where he is buried?” 

“Follow me, Saiya-chan! Do we need shovels?” His voice suggested a shit-eating grin behind that mask.

“No Tobi, that won’t be necessary. Bring me to the scene of the crime.” 

Tobi didn’t remember too well where Hidan was sitting in pieces in a pit of rubble, but he did have a vague idea of where the foul-mouthed Jashin faithful was hidden. It was a bit annoying really, but then again, Tobi never actually claimed to know exactly where Hidan’s broken body was. Or if he did know, he was purposefully wasting your time. Now, why Hidan first? Because he was the easiest to bring back, as he was technically not dead. He merely needed to be reassembled. 

“Okay. Stay out of the way, Orange-kun.” You requested politely.

“But why?”

“It would suck if you got impaled by flying rock, wouldn’t it?”

“…Oh! I get it!” He scrambled comically off to a safe distance, and waited. You jumped up on top of the rocks and dirt that sealed Hidan’s makeshift grave, and looked down at the area between your feet, then began making handseals.

A minute later there was a big explosion, and rock shrapnel flew every which way. You had jumped at the exact moment you had blasted the rock, and the backlash of the chakra explosion helped propel you further into the air, through the crown of the forest and into the blue. You were able to protect yourself with a chakra shield, even as you fell downwards to the earth again. There, scattered around the crater hole was a few dirt-coated human body parts, and also a broken triple-bladed scythe lay at the very bottom of the hole.

“I found his head! Am I a good boy, Saiya-chan?”

You turned around and almost jumped backwards at the sight of a human head, which was held up in front of you by its dirty hair. “Uh…sure you are, Tobi.” You muttered, staring. “Alright Orange-kun, help me collect all the body parts. We’ll set them down over there. And be careful. I might’ve attracted some attention.”

“Whatever you say, Saiya-chan!” 

That having been said, you looked around and then jumped into the pit, almost landing on the pieces of the ruined scythe. Thankfully you did not, but you _did_ step on one of Hidan’s fingers, and there was a faint ‘pop’ that made you freeze in that spot. You stepped backwards once then bent down and picked up Hidan’s arm. There was no apparent damage on any of the five digits, instead you must’ve just cracked his knuckles when you accidentally stepped on his fingers 

Good thing he couldn’t feel it right now, or if he could, he wasn’t able to voice it. You gathered the rest of the body parts in the rocky pit, then jumped up and out. Even though you had tortured, maimed and slaughtered, you were still a bit skived out over this situation. Here in your arms was an assorted jumble of random human body parts, and eerily enough, you could tell that they would be functional still once mended. You set them down and then looked over to see Tobi drop the rest of his body parts down. 

“Ok Orange-kun...” You muttered. “If you don’t wanna see a naked man come back to life, then I suggest you turn around and don’t look. Take out the canvas tarp roll and lay it out flat, if you please. He won't thank anyone if an excess of dirt is trapped on his insides.” Having said this to the masked one, you unbuckled one of the dark tan ninja packs that you had slung low around your waist, hanging the pack from its strap upon a nearby tree branch. After that you opened up your messenger bag and pulled a black and red Akatsuki cloak from one of the bigger pouches, then hung it from another branch, as though it were a coat-hanger. You set the messenger bag down at the base of the tree, where a set of clothes, and shoes could be seen packed neatly into the bag. That done now, you chanced a quick glance over your shoulder and then reluctantly turned fully around to address the tangle of limbs.

The desire to reassemble this particular ninja was lacking; though he was part of the mission and this task must be done. It had nothing to do with the rebirth arts you've been practicing since bearing witness to Granny Chiyo and Naruto as they brought the deceased Gaara back from the brink of the underworld with their very life force. Instead, this particular assignment had to do with rejoining broken bones and shredded flesh. It was going to be good practice in the heavier side of life-saving medical ninjutsu, if nothing else.

Having reserved a great deal of chakra for this (and thus you were ready ahead of schedule) you set to work, picking up body parts and rearranging them appropriately on a large tawny tarp rolled out on the forest floor. Tobi sat by quietly on a thick tree branch, choosing for once not to bombard you with queries, but the feeling of a predator watching its prey inched its way up your spine. Hidan's body lay motionless and properly assembled, so now all that was left was to begin the laborious process of fusing bones, realigning the skeleton, and weaving the musculature properly before covering the severed and burnt parts with new skin. You knelt beside him, and initiated a quick series of hand seals. Your hands and Hidan's disjointed body parts were now limned in light that ranged from greens, to pure teal, to a span of blues, indigo and lastly purple, pulsing with currents of power. While his bones popped and adjoined, sinews twined themselves together like complicated and strong thread, blood vessels reconnected and swelled with fresh crimson fluid. Hidan's purple eyes sprang open at last and his jaw unclenched in a primal scream; a hybrid of raw agony and anger. His eyes rolled back into his head, eyelids twitching and fluttering closed again, transcending that pain into pleasure even now, as if it were some kind of profane ritual in his twisted thoughts. The tremendous amount of chakra seeping into Hidan's body was thankfully enough to belatedly awaken him from the dormant state he entered into; to preserve what remained intact of his mind while entombed.

All the while you had to maintain the sharpest focus despite any distraction. Anything less would raise problems, though his obvious enjoyment made it hard to keep your head clear. Thankfully it didn't take much longer for the jutsu to run its course, and you arose with a slight wobble, turning away. The amount of chakra that technique consumed bordered on the ridiculous...that is to also make no mention of how you never had to heal a person to quite that extent before; and it put you under high strain. _'Walk it off. I'm fine. Walk it off.'_ You thought wearily, and shifted towards the rocky pit, putting one foot in front of the other until you reached its edge where a gleam caught your eye. It was the weapon left in the pit with the body, and it was a certainty he'd have need of this blade once again. Bending to pick up the pieces of Hidan’s broken scythe, a voice cut out from above. “What’re you doing, Saiya-chan?” Tobi called over. Apparently he couldn't see you very well where you stepped down into the rubble. Through the breaking waves of nausea from using all that chakra, it took a moment to process his simple question and respond.

“I’m getting the rest of his things, Orange-kun!” You shouted back from the bottom of the pit. 

“WHAT THE FUCK!” A male voice bellowed, one that didn’t belong to Tobi. It must be Hidan. “KAKUZU!!! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!!!” He raged. The abrasive nature of his tone made you cringe a little, but nevertheless you called out to him. “Kakuzu is dead! Are you decent yet?”

“He’s _never_ decent, Saiya-chan!” Tobi chimed in merrily. It would almost appear that he was entirely blissfully ignorant to the fact that Hidan could hear him. 

“Shut your damn mouth!” Hidan snarled as he started getting dressed. Tobi whined quietly but said nothing to him. Since Hidan didn’t answer your question, you rolled your purple eyes and hopped up out of the pit into sight, holding the parts of his heavy scythe. You figured, at worst, he might not even be clothed yet…and being a medic, you’ve seen plenty of people naked before, that is to say nothing of having seen him bare as the day he was born a minute ago. It’s not like he was equipped with anything of extraordinary proportions.

Thankfully, you were spared the sight of his naked flesh once more. He was just pulling his cloak on now, glaring invisible daggers at Tobi’s back. There were the tattered, dirt-laden remnants of his old clothing in a small heap on the ground nearby. Hidan himself was not dirty anymore. The chakra did remove the traces of filth from his body during the healing procedure. “Hidan, I presume?” You asked tentatively, walking over. His violently purple eyes shot towards your own, then moved gradually downwards with all the intention of giving the once-over. 

That would be when he spotted his scythe. His eyes widened in anger. He got up and grabbed you by the throat, digging his fingers in. His face was two inches away when he began bellowing at the top of his newly mended lungs. “WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SCYTHE YOU LITTLE-“

‘POOF!’ The ‘you’ he had in a strangle grip vanished. A wide blade of green grass floated to the ground instead, and the pieces of his scythe clattered downwards as well. 

“Wh-what the hell?!” He sputtered, lowering his hand and then kneeling down to examine the damage done to his weapon. 

“As I said before Hidan, Kakuzu is dead.” The real you was behind him, sitting in the tree that you’d hung his cloak on earlier. “Your body and your scythe were found in that pit over there. Some kid did this to you, right?”

He glared over his shoulder at you, but his lips were sealed. You bobbed your head towards the scythe. “Now, I’m sure that can be fixed. If not, you can surely get a better one. Tobi! C’mere boy, we need to get going.” You dropped down from the tree and smirked at Hidan before turning and heading into the woods. “As for you, Hidan, I suggest you get back to headquarters.”

“And who the fuck are you to tell me what to do?” He asked. His voice was much calmer now. The knowledge that Kakuzu was dead, whom was the occasional object of his absolute loathing, seemed to placate him. At least for the moment. In truth, Kakuzu was invaluable to him as a partner. Their abilities interlocked near perfectly as a team. It was a shame that Kakuzu wasn’t here. “This is Saiya-chan.” Tobi said, hopping over and walking alongside you. “She’s gonna bring everyone back!” 

“Just go Hidan. No I’m not your superior but I’m sure that the Leader would like to have some words with you. Take it as a suggestion that you should go. If you want to come with us though, so be it.”

“…” Hidan growled something incomprehensible before leaping off into the forest and making his way towards the Akatsuki hideout. He had questions that needed to be answered, and you were right. Even if he hated to admit it to himself; you had a point…Leader _would_ want to talk to him, after all this time. His memories were coming back, but they were still fuzzy. He’d been dormant underground for a little while now, and he knew that Leader would want a full report. 

“Gone already.” You muttered to yourself. Tobi heard you though. “Where to now, Saiya-chan?” Tobi asked, once again eager to help you out. You offered him a faint smile. “Kakuzu will be next."

“Not far away from here.” Tobi led the way. In his mind he mulled over the ways that Sasori, Hidan, Deidara and Kakuzu had died. Of them all, he expected that Deidara would be the hardest to bring back to life. He went out with a bang. People thought he had been completely destroyed because there was nothing left of him in sight, but that wasn’t true. Deidara’s body had been blown backwards from the attack for a long distance. Zetsu had recovered his body, but it was so heavily damaged it looked like he’d need another body. He was, quite literally, a large ragged piece of flesh, splintered bone, and charred cloth. It was preserved somewhere in the hideout. 

You were also rolling similar thoughts around the confines of your mind. Though you didn’t know they had Deidara’s remains, he was the one that worried you the very most. He was supposedly completely destroyed. The only piece of DNA you thought you could get of his body was hair from his hairbrush. 

“Are you a good seamstress, Saiya-chan?” Tobi joked, referring to Kakuzu’s ‘tentacles’. You blinked, a bit surprised to see that you both had arrived at ‘Kakuzu’s grave’ already. He was all over the place it seemed, his body was a mess. But it was fixable. 

“He needs lots of hearts, Saiya-chan.” Tobi told you. He was much more serious in an instant. “Lots of hearts to stay alive for awhile.” 

“I couldn’t sew a yukata for my cousin years ago.” Tobi watched you walk over and nudged part of Kakuzu’s remains with the side of a shoe. “But I bet I can put a few thousand stitches in him.” You commented, a plan already coming together in your head. 

“Alright Orange-kun. Come here and listen to me. Here’s the game plan.”

He did walk over to you with all the innocent curiosity of a young boy, and you told him exactly what was to be done.


	4. Strings Attached

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakuzu is revived and is already hatching another get-rich-quick scheme that puts a certain someone in potential danger. While he's plotting, work is soon to begin on Sasori's restoration.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rhi: So very sorry it took me so long to post the next chapter. Life happens!

Strings Attached

 

The screams were enough to curdle the bravest man’s blood.

Hours were spent unraveling all the tangled, stringy tentacles so that you could stitch Kakuzu back together and mended his main heart. After that, you had also provided him with a small selection of people whose hearts he could harvest for later use, on account of not knowing if only one heart would truly suffice to get him going. Admittedly they weren't powerful shinobi, which made for a most disgruntled Kakuzu. Although his gloomy mood soon lightened when he counted the money he’d gained between the four people he slaughtered. It was amusing to you that he’d pick their pockets, though Tobi warned you that he might (so you could get the money before he did if you wanted). But you told your new orange-masked comrade that you had more than enough money and no place to spend it. After you told him that, he said that you might be able to pay Kakuzu to do things for you…whenever you’re too lazy to do something yourself. 

That was actually a good piece of advice that you stored away for later.

Your eyes traveled from one body to the other while the newly mended killer finished dressing. The bodies weren't all that badly mangled, though each had one part in common; they each had a gory hole in their chests, all of it Kakuzu's doing. But he was in no way happy about this. These hearts felt fake to him, unreal as opposed to all the strong ones he’d taken in the past. But then, those ones held particular significance, and after his last battle, it appeared that only one of these was salvageable. When he was finished, you turned fully towards him. “Hello Kakuzu. How do you feel?” 

His bizarre eyes moved towards Tobi first, then to you. “I’m fine.” He deadpanned. What kind of idiot question is that? He'd just been dead, after all.

“Good, then my business with you has concluded.” You informed him. “I advise that you move on to headquarters, Kakuzu.” He lifted the black mask that covered the lower half of his face and grumbled. “Where is Hidan?”

Well then! If you didn’t know these two were only teammates, you could swear they were ex-boyfriends. They both asked about one another, and each time had nearly the same look in their eyes when mentioning one another’s names: total disgust.

“He’s probably back at base by now.”

“Alright. And who exactly are you?”

“The Leader had me hunted down in order to give me a mission. If I’m successful, then I guess I’ll end up joining the organization.” You told him. “You can call me Saiya.”

“And you’re doing this for free otherwise?” He snorted disdainfully, making you frown and airily wave off his comment. “No, no, no, nothing like that...money isn't a concern of mine. I have more than enough inheritance to last _several_ lifetimes." Sensing his immediate skepticism, you sighed and elaborated. "Essentially I’m getting what I want: a chance to test out my new abilities in a preferable capacity. Understand, opportunities like this are _beyond_ rare.” Kakuzu made no reaction towards the passing reference to your personal wealth, though the rest of what was said hardly mattered by comparison. Now seeing a potential source of future income; he’d have to see how much of that money he could wrangle out of you. Sometime in the future of course. Maybe by providing more of these 'opportunities' you were looking for, even. "Anyhow," You continued, wanting to move on. "The Leader will probably want to see you now that you've been restored."

"Very well then.” He muttered, heading off in the direction of the headquarters in a quick blur. You turned to Tobi after Kakuzu had gone. “Two down, two to go, Orange-kun. Now, will you remind me...where is Sasori?”

“Of course I will Saiya-chan! Follow me!” He turned and ran off enthusiastically towards the location. You followed close behind. 

 

_With Kakuzu…_

While you, Tobi and Kakuzu had all parted ways and were no longer in sight of one another, Kakuzu was still thinking about what just happened. He had been killed, yes. By that snot-nosed brat Naruto, and his sensei Kakashi. You had revived him just now, somehow, and you identified yourself as Saiya, a woman evidently in possession of a great sum of money. But why did that name sound familiar? It wasn’t a name that he heard very often.

Saiya, Saiya. Hmm.  
Wait a minute.

Not long before he died, he’d been given a file folder full of details about a specific kunoichi. A kunoichi that an unnamed person wanted dead. This mysterious benefactor had been willing to pay him more money than anyone ever had for any other hit contract in the past. He remembered distinctly looking over the first page in the file and then accepting it. 

Black hair…purple eyes...somewhere over five feet tall. He remembered that this woman had a special aptitude for medical jutsus and was one of the heirs to a brewing company. 

There was little doubt about it. You must be Gyaku Saiya.

Just like that, you suddenly represented a large sum of money that Kakuzu could have if he ever brought you in to the person that wanted you. Little did he know that it was a huge mistake to of taken the ‘mission’. Getting you probably wouldn’t be an issue, especially if you failed. Then Leader wouldn’t need you anymore if you couldn’t continue the task at hand. If that happened, then you were up for grabs. He’d have to make sure that he got to you before anyone else did; namely Sasori whom was lacking good puppets after his little skirmish with Sakura and Granny Chiyo. He didn’t know if Sasori was back yet or not, but it'd be a matter of time. He only knew that Hidan was, and that Sasori might see that you'd be a good puppet to add to his collection if the option were available. Even Kakuzu had to admit, you _are_ quite easy on the eyes. By Sasori’s skill, you’d turn into a beautiful, flawless and deadly doll. He couldn’t allow that to happen when you were worth so much money at the collections office, and the possibility hung in the air like a poisonous fog.

Kakuzu’s eyes narrowed in silent resolve. He’d have to make sure you failed on any future missions. He was going to have to make sure you’d fail repeatedly before you could be officially initiated into Akatsuki. Kakuzu would have to pull some strings to get what he wanted; for to him, money is the only worthwhile and dependable thing. He’d need to thoroughly peruse the mission folder, and then ruminate over the data and his plan for a time, if it could be done at all, or if it was something he should forget altogether. Still, no possibility should go untouched.

The hideout loomed ahead.

 

_Back with Yourself and Tobi…_

“What a mess.” You grumbled, stepping over some rock debris. You nearly tripped over the trunk of a puppet. “Whew, this must’ve been an epic battle, huh Orange-kun?”

Tobi hopped lightheartedly over a few broken puppet shells and stopped, then pointed towards Sasori’s original body. “That’s him, Saiya-chan. I have his ring!” You got the sense that Tobi was grinning childishly behind his mask. The puppet master was limp, his eye sockets empty and lifeless, body pinned to the wall by a strange white and black object. It looked like a bizarre seal of sorts, but you didn’t pause to examine it properly. It wasn't as relevant to the matter. No, what was most curious about this scene was Sasori’s puppet corpse, and you moved as close as possible to examine it.

“What the hell…?” You reached out and ran a gloved index finger along the curvature of the hollow hole in Sasori’s chest. Peering inside this hole, you saw that there was things in there that probably would’ve connected to whatever it was that would be inserted into that gaping hole in his chest. “That’s interesting.”

“What is, Saiya-chan?”

“This hole. It’s location is exactly where a human heart is normally.” You told him. “Well there’s nothing I can do with this puppet.” You were frowning deeply, finding yourself in something of a dilemma. You can’t heal a puppet. That’s impossible. “Tobi, this can’t be him. There needs to be an actual puppet master, who can use chakra. A puppet like this can’t do that. Where is his real body?”

“N-not lying to you Saiya-chan, honest!” Tobi was distressed over this. “Tobi doesn’t lie to you! Tobi is a good boy!”

“No need to talk in the third.” You said, barely suppressing a smile. “So explain to me what you know about Sasori, then.”

“He turned himself into a puppet, Saiya-chan.” Tobi told you gravely. “He _could_ use chakra. Sasori was the best puppet master ever. He could control hundreds of puppets at once!”

“So?” You were unimpressed.

“Don’t you know, Saiya-chan? Puppet masters are measured by how many they can control at once! It’s _hard_ to control a lot at once!” 

Now _that_ sounded more impressive. “Hmm. All I know is that they manipulate puppets with chakra strings. So…that means that if he turned himself into a puppet, there must be something left of him that is still living.” You were hunting through all the broken parts, looking for whatever it is of Sasori that must be left of his biological body. “Hmmm…now that I think of it…” You said, ignoring how Tobi’s head turned, following your movement from one end of this battlefield to another, searching as you went. “…it is extraordinary that he could turn himself into a puppet. He certainly had assistance; or worked something obscure out on his own. Either way, its genius.” You paused and laughed bitterly. “Heh, most of the people in this organization are probably the best at what they do out of everyone else in their villages, eh Orange-kun?”

“Ohhh I don’t know about that, Saiya-chan. People change!”

“But many don’t, and that’s how we measure those who have skill and who don’t. Like oil and water, the layers separate and define themselves to the naked eye." You mused, searching the ground. "Ah! This must be it.” You’d nearly stepped in a pool of dried black blood. Nearby this dry puddle was a slashed hitai-ate, from the Sand Country. Before you laid three puppets. Between a female puppet with long dark hair, and a male puppet with choppy reddish hair, there was one in the middle that _also_ had shaggy red hair. Judging from the shape of the body, it was a male puppet as well, and there were two katana buried through its center. You pushed the right and left puppets out of the way, then rolled the middle red-haired puppet over and found two katanas crossing through what looked like a cylindrical core protruding out of the chest of the puppet. There were trails of caked-on blood and dirt from where the katanas stuck through the core. You carefully slid the blades out, then stared down at the heavily damaged heart cylinder. 

“There is two ways I can do this.” You told Tobi. “The thing is, it’s going to be hard either way. Do you happen to know if Sasori destroyed his original body, Tobi?”

“Tobi has no idea.” Tobi told you blankly, jumping down from on top of a rock and coming over to you. “What do we do now, Saiya-chan?”

“I’m going to take this.” You said, taking up one of the katanas. You flipped it around and slammed the butt of the handle into the puppet’s chest, causing it to crack heavily and splinter inwards. Another blow to the same spot caused the chest to cave in, and the heart core slumped forewords in place, no longer being held tight by flesh-colored material. You picked it up carefully, then took up a crimson red cloak from one of the nearby destroyed puppets, shook any dust and debris off of it with the flick of a wrist, and wrapped up the heart core in it, being careful not to damage any of the dehydrated veins protruding out of the sides of the core. “Okay then. Let’s go back to headquarters. I need to ask people some questions. And depending on whether or not anybody can answer me; chances are I'll have to dig through Sasori's possessions.”

The two of you went back to headquarters after that, but the place looked deserted. “Is it always this cheery around here, Orange-kun?” You asked uneasily, looking around as you walked, carrying the red bundle in your arms like it was a baby. “Yep!”

“Wonderful.”

“Isn’t it?!” He chirped.

“Honestly? No.”

“No what?” A new voice called out from around the corner. Then Kisame walked around the corner and looked from you to Tobi. 

“I asked Orange-kun if this place is always this lovely and bright and cheerful.” You drawled. “It needs a woman’s touch I think.”

Kisame laughed. “’Orange-kun’? ‘A woman’s touch’? Yeah right!” Because this is a male-dominated group after all! “I like you already, Blueberry-kun.” You said to Kisame with a wisecracking grin. “You have more personality than the others.”

“…Blueberry-kun.” He echoed in disbelief. "Are you going to name everyone after fruit?” 

“You know what Blueberry-kun, that’s a fucking good idea.”

“Is Itachi a Cranberry, Saiya-chan?” Tobi asked, giggling a little. 

“I think so. Because cranberries are bitter tasting, unless you add sugar.” You told him. Kisame snorted. 

“Yeah…Itachi needs some sugar alright.”

“And looooots of it I'm sure; to make up for lost time.” You concurred, nodding in agreement with Kisame. “So Blue-kun, what’re you up to?”

Kisame twitched a little at the name and the immediate friendliness, then sighed and looked over his shoulder down the end of the hall. Itachi was stepping out of a room, and heading this way. The door snicked shut behind him quietly. “We’re out for a mission. Itachi told me to go ahead, but I guess he wasn’t held up for as long as he thought he’d be.”

“’Held up’?” You echoed. “Does the Leader have you guys do chores around here or something?”

Kisame shot you an annoyed look. “No, that’s not the case. It’s something else that isn’t your business.” 

“I didn’t even want to know really, Kisame, I asked in rhetoric.” You said, watching Itachi draw level with the three of you…then just simply passed by, glancing at Kisame out the corner of one black eye. He didn’t need to speak to tell his partner that it was time to go.

“Bye you two.” Kisame said, and fell into step beside Itachi.

You and Tobi watched them go for a moment, but then you grew bored of it and turned to the masked one. “Who’s left around here? I need to ask some questions, remember?”

“Uhhh…Saiya-chan, I don’t think anyone’s going to know anything about what you have to ask.” 

A stab of annoyance knitted your eyebrows. “Then would YOU know, smartass?”

“I know that his real body is in his workshop, Saiya-chan.” He rocked from side to side childishly. “Deidara-sama told me that Sasori-sama keeps his body in a scroll in his workshop!”

You stared at the orange mask in disbelief. “And why the hell didn’t you say something about it sooner, Tobi?”

“Because you never asked Tobi, Saiya-chan!” What a cheerful wise-ass. You nearly sputtered and glared at him. "I DID ask you, smartass! I asked if he destroyed his body! Why didn't you tell me _then_?!?!" Based on how he deferred to everyone else, you figured he'd be least likely to know anything, but it turns out he was the only person to ask and he'd been withholding information for reasons known only to himself. You blew out a sigh and shook your head, giving up. Now was not the time for this. “Fine. Okay Tobi, would you bring me to Sasori’s workshop then?”

“Okay.” He began to lead you there. On the way you two saw Kakuzu and Hidan in the halls, just coming out of the room where one ordinarily confronts the Leader about a mission. They looked a bit grim, but then again, you figured that’s probably just their normal facial expressions. Both paused to eye the red bundle you carried in your arms as though it were a baby. “What the fuck is _that_?” Hidan questioned, looking at the red bundle in your arms pointedly.

“It’s Sasori.” You answered mildly, as if the answer was self-evident. “Couldn’t you figure that out by seeing it?”

Apparently they couldn’t, judging from how they stared at you in disbelief. 

“Don’t you have some praying to do, Hidan? And some bounty hunting, Kakuzu?” You asked a little sharply before moving onwards after Tobi. Kakuzu smirked. How funny that _you_ should say that to him. He had bounty hunting to do, yes. And Hidan also had some praying to do…actually, it was more like he had to go humble himself, cut his body up and beg for Jashin’s forgiveness for his horrible fuck-up of dying like an dishonorable fool. They had to resume their mission of capturing other jinchuuriki, but there wasn’t much of a rush for it at this point. They had to wait awhile before they could drain another tailed demon out of its host. Therefore someone….ANYONE…who hadn’t caught their jinchuuriki yet, had time to catch one. As long as someone brought them in on a set timeline, they were good to go. 

Though Kakuzu hit a snag in his new get-rich-quick scheme. Leader was now telling the Akatsuki members that he needed you for more than the purpose of bringing the fallen back to life and eliminating the threat of Orochimaru.

No, they needed your brilliant mind on the task of figuring out just how the hell they could speed up this process of draining a jinchuuriki. They could knock some time off the wait if they taught you how to perform the jutsu along with the others that allowed them to suck a tailed demon out of its host; as the task itself takes a very long time. If you were as good as you were hyped to be, and they were slowly finding out that you _are_ , then they’d hardly have to wait at all to complete the process of extraction. They barely finished in time with Gaara. With enemies bearing down on them during the extraction period, they had to split their attentions elsewhere to buy time wherever possible. In the end, all this did was prolong the jutsu because precious energy was being spent elsewhere.

After all, you’d exhibited the bizarre ability to speed up the rate at which chakra replenishes itself. Whether or not it was a kekkei-genkai, no one knew. Your family wasn’t a special family of shinobi like the other great clans blessed with spectacular bloodline limits. Quite opposite, your generation within your clan was the only one in about fifty years to become shinobi. Yourself and your siblings and two cousins each attended the Grass Academy, but you were the best kunoichi out of them all by far, purely by virtue of the fact that you had motivation. It was interesting how your clan grew to hate the way of the ninja so quickly, when well over a hundred years ago the very first person in your family to become a ninja excelled at what they did. Your ancestor was a great medic as well, and he was also excellent at fabricating poisons. 

After he died, another fifty years went by and then someone else was born who was also a fine medic. Beyond that, another fifty years would go by, and then your grandmother was born. She too was an excellent medic. By then, the Gyaku Clan of the Grass became marginally known within its own country for turning out an exceptional prodigy in increments of fifty years, despite the Clan’s overall hate of the ninja way. Now it was your turn. It was _you_ who was rumored to be that prodigy, and you didn’t intend to let yourself be killed off in your prime like the others in the past. You were already of the age where the others were slain. Thankfully, criminal life aside, you managed to stay alive. And you’d continue to live on. Already you succeeded where the others across the world failed, up until very recently. You could bring people back to life, and they were in possession of their own minds.

Tobi saw this in you. He’d known about the peculiar Gyaku Clan. He _told_ Pein to make sure you were brought into the group, once he saw that you were ready. He had the Leader make Sasori poison _all_ the different women that the old man who headed that one small village married. Poisoned them only to the point of sterility. He knew of your temperament, and that means he of course understood that you were a loose cannon ready to fire, that you wouldn’t stand for it if you were betrothed. Tobi had made sure that this would all play out the way they needed it to, and Pein as well as Konan were the only ones who knew who Tobi was to the Akatsuki, and that they HAD to listen to him. You didn’t know, and you treated Tobi just like everyone else did (to a point), except you were indeed kinder to him. For instance, you hadn’t threatened to string him out for the scavenging animals to nip at his corpse. Already you had gained favor in his one red eye. He’d seen you perform one miraculous resurrection already: Kakuzu hadn’t exactly been a cakewalk to bring back, but he at least didn’t look impossible, even to him.

Even as he opened the door to Sasori’s workshop, he couldn't wait to see what would be done to bring the Puppet Master back to life.

But the one that he couldn’t figure out…the one that bothered and intrigued him the most…

…was how you planned back to bring back Deidara.

To Tobi…it was entirely impossible.

Yet you didn’t seem as worried as he felt. 

Why is that?


	5. Reanimation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tis' Sasori's turn to be brought back from the dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the confusion but for some reason the numbers were screwed up on my zip-drive that i keep this fanfic on, and I scrambled one chapter around with another so I'm posting them in the proper order now.

Re-animation

 

“Hey Tobi.” You said, looking around the workshop. You were cradling the red bundle in your arms still. 

“Yes Saiya-chan?”

“Not to continually dredge up the topic; but I distinctly remember asking you if you had _any idea_ what Sasori did with his body. You said you had no idea. But now you tell me that he keeps his corpse in a containment scroll. Kindly tell me why you lied about something so stupid?” Tobi flinched, for you sounded a bit waspish towards the end of your question. “I…I forgot, Saiya-chan, I only remembered just now!” He said, edging around a large box of wooden legs, and then promptly stumbled against a crate of paints. He wind-milled his arms to stay stable on his feet, and thankfully didn’t fall and create a huge mess. You grumbled something incomprehensible then moved deeper into the workshop.

Tobi looked like a lumbering klutz compared to you. You were as nimble as a spider; easily moving around and over whatever things were set here and there on the floor, as well as puppets hanging from a metal rack attached to the ceiling. This room might look messy at first glance, but the more you observed as you went along to the back, the more you recognized a method to this madness. The ‘mess’ was one of those that appeared worse than it actually was. 

“Ah.” You’d found a large work table at the back of the room. “So Tobi, since you know it’s in a scroll, would you happen to know what this scroll looks like?”

“Tobi hasn’t ever seen it,” He admitted.

Heaving a sigh, you set the crimson bundle down on an empty spot on the table. "I hope for all our sakes that you aren't lying to me again." This table was a long one, right against the back wall. It took up about half the wall from the looks of it, and was about ten feet long to the naked eye. It was covered with various scrolls an instruments. You hadn’t seen the likes of a lot of these before; a lot of the scrolls seemed like they weren’t something your average shinobi could make use of. Yet again you found yourself marveling at the sheer brilliance of the Puppet Master. 

Yeah…brilliant alright. He was so intelligent that you had no idea what he _does_ with even one quarter of the assorted nonsense laying around here. But it didn’t matter much; these weren’t the tools of your trade. Although the contents of a wooden box under the table of scrolls caught your eye. Speaking of the,’ tools of the trade’, you saw various pieces of medical equipment sitting there in that box, covered with a film of dust. The pale wooden cover of the box was lying at an angle across the top, covered with smeared fingerprints. But clearly this box of medical supplies hadn’t been disturbed for an exceedingly long time apart from that.

“What’re you looking at, Saiya-chan?” Tobi asked, from where he was examining the half-finished carcass of a puppet hanging from a hook.

“I’m looking at what Sasori might’ve used to transfer himself into the body of a puppet. Or rather, someone else might’ve done it for him.”

“That’s something else I don’t know, Saiya-chan. People always thought he turned his original body into a puppet, but he couldn't have.”

“Yes, even he must’ve acknowledged the fact that one doesn’t know what the future brings…and might eventually need his biological body to serve him once more…” You trailed off, now coming across a scroll resting inside a cushioned metal box. You turned the scroll from end to end, and noticed the same kanji painted at each end of it that's on the heart core. 

“…and how true that is.” You finished, a sly, victorious grin curling your lips. “Tobi.” 

“Yes?”

You bobbed your head towards a surgery table with wide leather straps fastened to it. It also had a deep channel running around the edge of the table, the groove ending at an outlet that was situated above a wide pipe. A light was fixated above this table, and there was also a gurney against the wall nearby. Various stainless steel instruments rested on a small wheeled table close at hand. All of these things bore signs of frequent use.  
“Tell me more about Sasori, and why he needs all these.” You took the scroll and the red bundle and went to the table, setting each down on the main surgery table. Its surface was coated in porcelain, formerly white, but over the days of its usage it became colored with age and layers of grisly stains that would never go away. Ironically, if not for the dust, it would have been meticulously clean.

Tobi came over to you and looked around at the table, then picked up the scroll you found and examined one end of it. “All what?” He asked.

“ _Those._ ” You reached up and turned on the overhead light, then pointed at the small wheeled table. The surgical instruments were now gleaming under the mercilessly bright white light. They were immaculately kept, and upon picking up a set of shears, you realized they were also very well used. While waiting for his answer, you cautiously brushed the dust off so the scissors gleamed.

Tobi gulped theatrically, eyeing the formidible shears you were now clicking open and closed. They were a large and heavy pair, and looked like they could be used for cutting into the chest cavity of a human. They looked rather deadly.

“He made puppets out of human bodies, Saiya-chan.” Tobi said a bit meekly, quietly. You looked up into his one eye, but he was hanging his head, mask in a dark shadow thrown by the bright overhead light. He seemed to regress into a quiet, fidgety, mouse-like state. You gently took the scroll from him. “I’d thought he only had himself turned into a puppet. But this explains much.” You said.

“Really?” He asked quietly, lifting his head slightly. 

“Yeah. I’ve heard of how a lot of skilled shinobi vanish without a trace. Witness the one Kazekage of the Sand. The man capable of utilizing some exceptionally formidable and rare sand techniques; the very reason why he was considered the most powerful Kazekage to exist. But I think that’s stupidity…if a silly little girl, whom is that slug lady’s student could take that puppet apart, then I think that the present Kazekage would be considered the most powerful.”

“What kind of reasoning is that?” Tobi asked you blankly, momentarily having lost all pretense of being a playful goof. 

“My own.” You told him, smirking. “And my own reasoning to keep to myself.” Tobi said nothing, watching as you cleaned the table and instruments, at last sterilizing them during the conversation. You and he might have conflicting ideas on some things, he realized now, but that didn’t mean he liked you any less. Your thoroughness was comforting, knowing that after seeing two Akatsuki reanimated and a third on the way; Pein had not misplaced his trust in you with this task...despite that this was all, in effect, merely a better way for you to practice a vastly taboo skill. 

“Okay Tobi. This is the part that I don’t need you for. If you’ve got a weak stomach then I suggest you leave.” Your voice woke him up from reverie and the orange mask bobbed up and down in an abrupt nod. Fascinating though it may be to watch what was about to happen, he could take a hint. “I’ll go, Saiya-chan. See you tomorrow, ok?” Tobi said, turning and heading for the door. You were just unfurling the scroll when you heard him. “Tomorrow, what? Is it that late already?” You inquired.

“It is getting dark out, Saiya-chan.” Tobi called back as he left. “Bye!”

“Bye…” You muttered under your breath, inclining both eyebrows. Wow. You hadn’t even realized the time, and how it flew by today. The last you’d lost all track of time like this was when you first learned how to dissect a human body. It’d taken a good while, since the teacher was one who spared none of the gory details, but yet it felt as though the time between the start and the finish was but a single second. 

You looked down at the scroll in your hands, which was half unrolled. Just you and Sasori now. 

You summoned Sasori’s corpse from the inked paper and then set the empty scroll to the side and looked at the body lying on the surgery table before you. He looked more like he was sleeping. There was an area of skin stitched closed in the chest area. Aside from that, his skin was perfect and pale, almost as though this were another of Sasori’s puppets. His hair fell around his face and over his eyes in a mess of spiked garnet silk. You reached out, moving it back from his eyelids gently. Those red locks felt even softer than they looked. He was wearing a simple pair of loose-legged black pants, cinched firmly closed by a drawstring against his nicely toned torso. A moment passed where you were sorely tempted to explore the rest of him, but no, you had more respect for the dead than that. 

From the looks of him, Sasori, when he still inhabited his biological body, must’ve trained hard and it clearly paid off. He was entirely unscarred except on his chest above the heart. As it should be. A puppet master should be able to remain untouched by the enemy, and apparently he had been able to avoid any contact at all, and if he hadn’t, there were no physical records. You had thought that he might just have wanted to place himself in another body for the reason that he had difficulties with close-range combat, which is indeed a problem for puppeteers. 

You took the bundle of cloth you’d carried here and then picked up the heart core out of it. It was cold to the touch, as expected. You went about opening the cylinder that carried the heart, and you carefully pulled the branching veins out from the holes dotted around the outside of the cylinder. There now, you saw his heart, shrunken and sad, all moisture long gone from it. You handled this carefully with gloved fingers when you touched it, and your hands became consumed in chakra. 

After healing the shriveled heart, you turned to the body and picked up a scalpel and snipped open the strings that held a flap of skin closed. Then something occurred to you. 

What about the blood?

If he kept his body intact, he’d need blood of course. Though you saw once you opened the flap of skin that this wasn’t going to be an issue. Sasori truly did think of everything, including his blood. One concern was that the veins might've collapsed. But inside the chest cavity, where the heart really should have been, was a clear container that was hooked up to all the veins. It was flooded with his blood, and it was suddenly very clear to you that this would be a hundred times easier than you thought it’d be. 

You took the discarded cloth, and started rolling it up tightly. Then you put it under his head, which raised him up at an angle, but not by enough. Once you found more rolled fabric to slip under his shoulders, the blood in that heart-sized container ran back down into his veins with minor difficulty. Apparently Sasori must’ve drained some of the blood out, or otherwise simply lost it during the surgery. That wouldn’t be so hard to take care of either.

After the blood had thoroughly drained from the container, you went about unhooking it from the veins. You had to work carefully and quickly. There was absolutely no room for error. Thankfully, you weren’t the type to buckle under pressure. 

There!

You were able to finally place the heart in the chest cavity with minor coaxing. It fit perfectly, as it should, but needed to be thoroughly reattached. That much could be accomplished with a bit of medic magic, which was next in the order of tasks. You performed a series of handseals, and then gently pressed your fingertips to the surface of the heart muscle. A pale, colorless glow consumed your hands and then gradually spread downwards into the heart, moving outwards and then onto the veins which seemed to lift up on their own and mend back into their respective places. Each vein sealed together seamlessly, and Sasori's heart swelled a little with blood, as if midway through a beat. It now looked as though you’d opened his chest to perform heart surgery and the patient was under anesthesia. 

You carefully moved the roll of cloth from under Sasori’s shoulders and head, allowing the blood to very gradually come running back into the chambers and veins of his heart. Once you were able to let his head back onto the table, you set the rolls of cloth aside once again and then carefully started pulling the flap of skin back over Sasori’s motionless heart. Beyond this, it was extremely simple. Well. _You_ thought so, anyway.

This stage you’d reached in the resurrection was one you hardly had to lend much thought to. You’d become so engrossed in this task at hand, that you didn’t notice the resident Jashinist standing at the door to the room. His well-muscled frame was leaning casually against the threshold, eyes scanning over your body once again, this time without interruption. Even as he watched, you continued to stand with your back to him and then fiddled with the fastenings of your long black coat. You dropped your arms down by your sides, and allowed the heavy black leather duster to slide down your arms and pool around your ankles on the bare wooden floor. His eyes trailed slowly over your lean body once again. He didn’t need to guess so much what you hid under that coat anymore; no, you wore clothing that molded very nicely to your curves. Somewhat formfitting clothing was good for a shinobi. The less cloth you had to catch at wind and twigs and other things, the better. But coats are there for when one is cold, and the air had taken on a chill these days.

Hidan was here for a purpose all his own. He had come to see if it was true. He hadn’t seen Kakuzu’s resurrection, and Tobi had been rambling about you at dinner about fifteen minutes ago. Hidan was sure this was a sin of some sort in his religion…for him to silently lust after your figure (hey, its been awhile!), for him to witness the reanimation of one whom has been dead for some time now. In Jashin, one celebrates destruction culminating in the victim's demise. This was entirely opposite of the teachings he clung to so desperately. 

Although, he distantly hoped Jashin wouldn’t mind too much if he didn’t participate, and only observed to see what this was all about. Besides. There was plenty of slaughtering to be done in the near future. Hidan figured that it’d be okay, and he still had his immortality. Jashin had not yet rejected him. Perhaps he’d proven himself invaluable to the god.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts, and blinked up at you. You’d moved around the table, and were standing beside Sasori, and apparently you’d already healed the sewn patch of skin on his chest, though he didn’t remember seeing you do it.

 _‘Not here to stare at her tits…I’m here to see what she can do.’_ He inwardly reprimanded himself. But you did have such a lovely rack to ogle, right along with the rest of your nicely sculpted curves. Your body was the work of art that comes from working and training tirelessly for years. The bonus aspect of being a kunoichi, one might say.

Hidan watched in quiet and rather morbid fascination as you bit your fingers, and began drawing symbols on the floor. So far it looked more like you were preparing to make a seal. Well he wasn’t far off; this was a seal of sorts indeed. You got the impression that there weren't many places in the world where his soul would wander to, and out of all of them, this was the closest at hand. A location where Sasori spent many hours, a space so intimately familiar to him that this room would suffice for what had to happen next. Even if he did pass on to the next realm, this seal would drag him kicking and screaming out of whatever oblivion he had settled into.

Then you picked up Sasori’s corpse from the table, and laid him in the midst of all the bloody symbols. After that, you took several senbon, and pricked Sasori’s fingertips with them, so a tiny pinhead full of blood rest atop the needle tips. You stuck the clean ends of the senbon into the wood of the floor, in the middle of a few very specific runes, then moved back over to Sasori and took one of his pinpricked fingers. You squeezed some of his blood onto the pad of your left index finger, then pinched your opposing index finger and, double-handed, drew a complex symbol over Sasori’s heart. Hidan was surprised that the blood didn’t appear to run thin with all this drawing, since you used so little.

During the time-consuming activity of your rune-painting on Sasori’s body, the blood-tipped senbon were turning reddish, as Sasori’s cold blood had nearly run all the way down to the floor. You took note of this and finished up what you were doing, before straightening up and standing beside the diagram, last folding your hands in the seal of the snake, eyes slipping closed, focusing chakra into your bloodied fingers. 

Hidan could then swear that he heard you say something, but it wasn’t aloud. It was…in his…head?! What?!

_\Sasori of the Red Sand?\_ You called out this moniker in your mind, focusing on pulling Sasori’s soul to you. It took a matter of a minute before you detected it, that he was lingering. Sasori was a restless spirit, and he’d felt your mind reach out to his own and responded immediately, especially after he could sense his own blood on you. Blood that he had hidden away with his body. Despite his final words, seeing his grandmother, and anything else that could be thought of, his ghost did not feel satisfied in death to move on to the next world. He had been drifting, alone, entangled in a complex net of emotions that he could not square with in his present state. It made him irrational. If his anger spiked, he could become a formidable poltergeist. You chose to take that risk right now. It was easy to feel that he was on the cusp of anger. But his blood, so long after his death, tainting an unfamiliar one's skin…it intrigued him, and also, even if he wanted to resist the call he could not, merely _because_ you used his blood in the diagram on the floor. If he wanted to break free from your hold, he'd have to kill you, and there was plenty of things in this room for a poltergeist to hurl at his enemy. But first, he wanted to hear what you had to say.

_[ What do you want, wench? ]_

Hidan almost flinched visibly, gaze flashing from side to side; he knew that voice anywhere. It was Sasori’s! Only…it was disembodied.

_\I have been sent to bring you back to life.\_ Responded you, to which Hidan practically felt Sasori sneer. But there was the sense that he agreed. He wasn't done yet with the world of the living. He only lacked a method to return to his body. _[Fine then. Get on with it.]_

_\Very good, then. So long as you agree to cooperate, it won't take long.\_ You reassured him. Your tone was different here than it was whenever Hidan spoke to you. You sounded much more respectful, much more like you were walking on thin ice and were trying desperately not to fall through and drown in the frigid water below that trembling layer of ice. Then again, Sasori wasn’t someone whom you speak to so lightly. Like with Orochimaru, you must chew your words a few times before you spit them out, or else possibly suffer a venomous fate for something you could say that may rub him the wrong way. Even you knew this about Sasori, and you’d never met him before, as far as Hidan assumed. Unless there was something else going on here. He wasn't sure how much damage a disembodied soul could do, but he got the impression that you didn't want to chance it. Some respect would go a long way in this situation.

 _[ Very well. ]_ Sasori’s disembodied voice breathed, and before Hidan’s eyes, the many bloody senbon sticking into the floor suddenly burst into flame the color of Sasori's chakra. Though the flame did not travel down the red liquid to the floor. It remained at the tip of each needle. 

The blood runes suddenly took on a light of their own, shining from within. They glowed red as the fluid they were made of, and the glow traveled to the body in the middle. You carried on an extensive series of hand seals, during which you had to sharply focus your chakra on the strange, name-less jutsu. The lights over the table flickered, suppressed by intensifying shadows, disturbed by the energy concentration. When the series of seals was concluded, you knelt down and slammed your palms onto the outer boundary of the diagram, and the response was immediate. There was a shockwave that knocked both you and Hidan backwards, and then the normal pale white lighting was restored to the room. The overhead lamp at the surgery table guttered on and off, swung in its fixture, but stabilized its light at last. Hidan sat up, looking around and finding himself laying out in the hallway, his head against the foot of the wall. He rubbed the back of his head, then got up and looked towards you, both cursing and loving the stinging pain in his back. You looked stunned, laying flat on your back where one edge of the blood rune circle had been, but it wasn’t there. Even the senbon were all gone. What the fuck just happened? What had he witnessed? He thought it was impossible to summon someone’s soul from the afterlife, and expected you to fail. But he heard the voice, he felt the spiritual pressure, and the raw emotion lingering in the air. He could have sworn that what caused the shockwave was Sasori's very soul breaking through that barrier which exists between the dead and the living. Light had been sucked out of the rest of the room into the symbol on the ground, intensifying the shadows, where even Hidan, headstrong, unobservant fool that he can be, could detect movement. That something, or someone prowled the darkness beyond, awaiting the right moment.

Though now, he decided he’d seen enough. He was both curious and disgusted by what he just saw. It was enough. He needed to go pray his ass off to Jashin now, for hours on end, because he just saw one of the most sinful things ever, at least…sinful in _his_ religion.

You remained on the floor, stunned silent, eyes still closed. You've had to perform a ritual like this one before, but they usually failed. The subjects were either not resilient enough or their souls were found lacking in reason to come back. _Those_ resurrections never drained this much out of you, but Sasori’s spirit and chakra was so much greater than that of any other person you’d practiced on. Hidan and Kakuzu were both powerful, but the method was entirely different. It also could simply be that this was one of the most wildly successful resurrections of this type that you’d performed. Was it different from Granny Chiyo's method? Yes, very much so. You were bringing someone back who had been dead more than an hour or so. Sasori had been gone for quite awhile, as opposed to Gaara, whom wasn’t so far gone; his life had been readily accessible compared to how it was with Sasori. 

Speaking of whom, Sasori was sitting up, legs folded, examining his hands. He was opening and closing them, then he reached a hand up and ran his fingers through his hair. It’d been so long since he felt anything at all. But here, he felt a chill run over his body. Since he didn’t have a shirt on, and his body was just returning to its normal functions, he had every right to be feeling a bit on the cold side. He also felt a bit woozy, but it was nothing that would make him faint. What his soul had seen was incredible. You did it all…you put his heart back in and mended it, and also healed the parts that covered his heart…brought his body back into perfect working order and warmed it up to the internal temperature that can sustain life, where all the enzymes neither crystallize nor denature. His mouth was a little dry, and he coughed. His lungs ached after so many years of not being used. His entire body felt like it was on pins and needles…not a pretty sensation. He got unsteadily to his feet, and moved around a bit. This was so strange to him, to be living. There were days when he thought it was a foolish waste to keep his biological body locked away, but at last the day arrived where it was one of his wiser decisions. On the battlefield, his grandmother had been astonished at his youth, that the body she saw was a puppet made of his husk. Thankfully, it was only a puppet made to mirror his appearance. Glancing himself over, that appearance still was not a lie so much as it was a feat of flawless physical preservation. He might have many years tucked under his belt; but he looked to be a young man in his prime. It was no less than astounding. He arose to his feet and tried moving.

After a couple steps and nearly tripping over you while wandering in a circle to get used to his legs, he looked down at you. He blinked some moisture back into his dry eyes. There you were; the one that made this possible. This body is his own living puppet to control. Now that he could see your pretty face with his own two brown eyes, old thoughts returned to him. Sinister thoughts.

He dropped down to his knees, then buckled unsteadily and ended up on his hands and knees instead. Sasori of course knew this would take some time to get used to. Still, he ignored the pained complaints of his stiff, unused joints and stared down at your closed eyelids. He leaned closer, having little care for the rules of personal space, and immediately ended up inhaling the lightly sweet scent of your skin and hair intermingled with the scent of blood, a smell that was nearly intoxicating already, when he was only just reborn into this world minutes ago and the first thing he smelled was blood. His fingertips stung when particles of dust combined with the rough grain of the wood floor ground against his hands where he was still settled on palms and knees beside you. 

You were one of those people he’d had his eyes on. Sasori had you on a list of ninja to obtain; he once intended to make you one of his puppets. But alas, Sakura, that little pink haired brat had gotten the better of him. If it weren’t for his hag of a grandmother, he would’ve easily forced Sakura past death’s door. Yeah. That old lady had screwed everything up for him in a big way. If she wasn’t there at the time, a lot of things might not have happened. You were one of the people he would have ensnared for his collection afterwards. He knew he’d very much enjoy toying with you before he made you his, before you became one of his beautiful, deadly dolls. 

Sasori reared back, sitting on his knees, and pulled you into his arms so you were sitting and leaning against his chest. It didn’t even occur to him how wrong this would probably seem to you, and for that matter, to the ‘casual’ onlooker. But no one was here. It was just you and him. 

He could even do it now. His tools were strewn about the workshop; Sasori remembered just how to turn a person into the easily manipulated husk of a puppet. Yet something else occurred to him; that in his present state he was still warming up to his biology. He needed to regain a perfect sense of dexterity before he once again got back into his business of making puppets and using them. Speaking of which, all his best puppets were beaten to smithereens. He didn’t even know if they were still where they’d fallen in battle and if they could be salvaged.

It was all the more tempting. He unconsciously and thoughtlessly nuzzled slowly against your long neck, absorbed into sensations he hadn't felt in many years, stray strands of your raven tresses tickling his warming skin. It would be in his best interests to turn you into a lovely instrument of warfare. The table was so close, and the instruments he’d require for the grisly task were right beside it. The light was on. It was prepared.

Unfortunately for the attractive Puppet Master, you snapped out of your daze, eyelids sliding open over amethyst orbs. You groaned softly, head lolling further to the side and attracting Sasori’s attention. The faintest of smirks curved his lips, only at the corners. You began to sit up when you felt a sharp pain at your collarbone. You looked out the corner of your eye, and saw Sasori pinching the skin there with his bleach-white teeth. It left an angry pink mark, and you retracted your body from his grasp. 

“Wh-What the fuck are you doing?!” You demanded sharply, looking wearier than you sounded.

Sasori’s eyes narrowed slyly, and he moved towards you, already regaining ease of use over his shirtless body. He pushed you back against the stationary legs of the surgery table, sensing that you had not nearly enough strength in your limbs to fight him away, and came to be nose-to-nose with you. Everything about his posture from his movements to his expression struck you as predatory. Like you were a small rabbit, trapped before a red haired wolf that was savoring the moment, licking his deadly fangs, ready and able to pounce whenever he wished. 

He even acted that way, too…he leaned closer and tilted his head, hands pinning you back with newfound strength. His lips grazed yours for a pulse-pounding moment. Your beleaguered mind couldn’t come up with a single response; you were too busy wondering why the hell this was happening and were too spent at the moment to try to defend yourself. That was the greatest downfall of performing such a technique. You couldn't do anything strenuous afterwards, even if it included saving your own life from a madman.

One hand slid downwards, dexterous fingers exploring over your curves…as though he had done this so many times before you. His lips trailed downwards from your own, to your chin, then down your throat. Your skin had become hypersensitive to the touch, your lashes lowered while you attempted to watch him. Your head even tilted back slowly to grant him perfect access to the front of your neck, spine curving gracefully and slightly forwards. But you hadn’t done it by your own will; Sasori was manipulating you effortlessly already. It was such a wakeup call for you, not that it helped….but yes, now you definitely knew they weren’t kidding when they say he is _the best_ at controlling puppets…and people!

“S..Sasori…what…?” You were unable to finish your sentence, and bit back a whimper that threatened to hiss past your teeth when he kissed his way down your throat, teeth eventually grazing against the exposed flesh…teeth so white and unused, therefore they were unnaturally sharp for belonging to someone of his age. Sasori had tugged the hem of your shirt downwards so he could see some cleavage, and his lips brushed a fleeting, sensual trail over the swells before your voice cut through his bizarre, possessive thoughts.

He was acting peculiar; a being given the ability to feel on a physical level after so many years deprived of sensation by his own choosing. With your body left weakened after the jutsu, your only option was to try and sully the moment with logic. “You should go--need to take care of this body now, Sasori…you aren’t a puppet anymore."

Yes, he knew you were very right, he was pretty dehydrated and weakened too. He was extremely thirsty and so hungry he could devour a horse, now that he thought of it. And besides. He could harass you later if he pleased. Who were you to deny him anything he wanted? So what if you restored his life to him…he didn’t give a fuck about that! He got to appraise your figure up close at least, though he never got to unhinge every joint and see what made you tick, like he yearned to do.

“Aah!” You let out a strangled yelp when his teeth found that sore spot on your collarbone, and he bit it hard enough to draw blood this time. His halfly dry tongue darted past his lips, quick as a striking serpent, and took one lick of blood before straightening up and taking your chin in one hand, forcing you to make eye contact with him.

“Know that after you exceed your purpose, you are _mine_.” He told you, venomous and assertive, making your eyes widen a bit while he rose from the floor unsteadily and turned off the light over the surgery table. You couldn’t scramble to your feet faster, but you stumbled almost drunkenly. Before you hit the floor, you felt a strong hand grip your upper arm and haul you to your feet. It wasn’t Sasori. The hand was too large, and Sasori had left already for the kitchen. You felt a little sick, and dizzy. 

“Come on. You’re going to bed.” A male voice grunted, and you realized it to be Kisame. He had heard Sasori’s voice on the way by this room, he knew what Sasori probably did to you. The Puppet Master had this nasty habit of dissembling a person before they even hit his surgery table; mentally and in some cases…otherwise. Kisame felt bad for you, even if Itachi warned him not to get attached to you, he already liked you. Like Tobi, you brought some cheer to the organization already, and besides, even he had to admit that you were kind of adorable. It would be a hideous shame to let you wither away if left to Sasori’s devices. You were the new girl, the clueless one whom had done nothing wrong by any of them and was only following her orders to the letter. That was how you ended up like this. Kisame thought Sasori to be a rotten ingrate. He didn’t know if the other man had even so much as spared a thankful glance, but he also knew that the way he saw Sasori act towards you…as though you were a piece of meat. It was unfair and a bit on the rude side. But when it comes to Akatsuki, 'unfair and a bit on the rude side' is more like the headlines, not the full article. This wouldn't be the first or the last time a situation of this type would arise.

Without a single noise of effort, Kisame scooped you up into his arms and carried you to your room, then let you down onto your bed and left the room before anyone thought anything of it. Kisame may also be vicious killer, but he saw no reason to be crass and leave the woman who was helping them collapsed on the floor like a rag doll.

You barely murmured a thank-you to the shark-like one before exhaustion took over. When the door closed, and darkness presided in your room, so did your eyelids ease shut and slumber took you into the comforting depths of a dreamless sleep.


	6. Blond Bombshell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deidara is being brought back to life. Meanwhile, a skirmish ensues in the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So very sorry but I had edited a few chapters at once, so I accidentally scrambled up the order, the chapter numbers on my zip-drive got all messed up. So if you've read this chapter already, take a step back and read chapter 5 before this, which is called 'Reanimation'.

***So very sorry but I had edited a few chapters at once, so I accidentally scrambled up the order, the chapter numbers on my zip-drive got all messed up. So if you've read this chapter already, kindly take a step back and read chapter 5 before this, which is called 'Reanimation'.***

 

Blond Bombshell

 

Darkness had bled away from the lands, but there were no windows to let the sun in. Nevertheless, you awoke. There was no clock in your room yet, you hadn’t really unpacked your things yet. Your items that you’d summoned from a scroll the other day were all mounded atop the desk in the far corner of your room. You didn’t even remember putting everything there. But then again, you’d been extremely busy since you’d gotten here. For that matter, you didn’t really remember much about how you got into your room. You thought about it for a minute, and finally began to recollect exactly what happened last night. A chill ran over your form at the remembrance of Sasori’s touch, at what you remembered of his words. 

_’Know that after you exceed your purpose, you are mine.’_

After that Kisame had whisked you away to your room. You didn’t even know someone had been watching the whole time, or if he’d just happened across you. You would’ve hit the floor like a sack of bricks if he didn’t catch you after you foolishly attempted to leave the room under your own power. 

Hell of a night!

You rose from the bed cautiously, trying to be careful and not push your luck. Thankfully you healed faster than most people did, being the prodigal medic of the Gyaku Clan that you are, and you were mostly fine. The only issue was that your chakra was still a bit depleted.

Though because of that, you felt a little icky still. You figured the yucky feeling was nothing that a shower couldn’t cure. So that is exactly what you did; stripped down and stepped into the shower and let the warm water run over your naked frame. Steam filled the microscopic bathroom within moments, clouding your vision. Smoothing water and soap into your hair, your thoughts turned towards living conditions. The bedrooms you've seen as yet were all very clean-cut and built only for functionality, not aesthetics. Being an S-Class criminal in an organization that was usually hard at work in the first place; this is almost exactly what one would come to expect. You’d spend more time elsewhere than in here. That being said; the bed was comfortable, the water pressure was nice, and you had enough space to keep some personal items. There's a decently sized closet, and far as you could tell the walls were well insulated against sound. It was private and simple, not ornate and overdone like your childhood home. This was all anyone needed and it would suffice. It was a welcome departure from the big fancy compound you left along with the Hidden Grass Nation, where your vain family encouraged excess, perhaps to prevent any other clansmen from trying to become ninja. The more they drank, the fatter they got, the less inclined they were to do the hard labor that comes with the shadow warrior profession. They were more interested in promoting business, for in the end, that's all anybody in the Gyaku Clan believed in. The Grass was becoming a tourist trap in the years before you left. There had been rumors that your graduating class would be one of the last; if the council had their way and began uprooting the longstanding tradition of raising ninja. In a world brimming with strife, that would mean certain death sooner rather than later.

Speaking of which, you had to check out the situation with Deidara, and see how you’d need to go about bringing him back to life. This was well in mind as you turned the water down to a pleasantly cool temperature, notch by notch, chilling your skin until the water was off. When you were finished with your shower you wrung the excess moisture out of your clean hair before whipping a towel around your form. You barely shot your blurred visage a glance out of habit as you passed by the mirror above the sink. It wasn’t much of a mirror; it was only large enough for you to make sure your hair wasn’t a rat’s nest. That’s another thing you liked about this place, was the lack of mirrors. Though you hardly acknowledged it, you were a natural beauty and your parents (neither of them were exactly attractive themselves), had fawned relentlessly over you and would always force you to take pride in your appearance, but in your opinion they said one thing and meant another. They had mirrors all over the place in the house. Pride and vanity are two dangerous things, and they were deeply ingrained into your being. Both were habits you meant to try and kick, but they'd be as much a part of you as your own skin.

You realized you forgot to bring some clothes in the bathroom with you, although since that bathroom was really very small it wasn’t really all that large enough for a person to get dressed with elbow room to spare. It was a toilet, a shower stall, a sink and a mirror all crammed into a tiny space. So you figured that you’d be better off getting dressed in your bedroom anyway. So you did; extracting from the mound of possessions a set of clothing to wear for the day, and sluggishly pulled the garments on after finishing with patting yourself dry with the towel. Your mind was caught in a state of languor and thought, not the happiest combination. You were having such a hard time keeping your mind in one place without it drifting off the task you needed to prepare for; Deidara’s resurrection. After pulling your shoes on, you berated yourself for such scatterbrained-ness, and then finished soaking as much moisture out of your hair as possible with the towel before whisking a hairbrush through your dark, damp locks. You shoved the towel down a nearby laundry chute in the wall next to the door, then poked your head into the bathroom to stare at your reflection in the mirror for a second, to make sure your hair didn’t look stupid. It didn’t.

After that you left the room, slinging the belt to your ninja gear pack low around your waist and secured it, then remembered your hitai-ate and darted back into the bedroom. It was on the floor next to your bed. It probably tumbled off in your sleep. You picked the slashed thing up and tied it around a thigh, then left the room for real this time.

In the hallway stood a vaguely familiar young woman. This was Konan, whom you’d met the other day. She nodded her greeting to you, her origami flower fluttering at the petals slightly when she moved her head. You nodded back, regarding her in kind. “Morning Konan.” You half-yawned. She watched you without an ounce of feeling. “Not a morning person?”

“Depends. What’re you standing around for?” You asked her. She blinked. “I’m waiting for _you_ , Saiya.”

“I thought you said I could find the kitchen myself?” You teased, and when she started walking you walked beside her.

“I did say that, didn’t I? No, I wanted to talk to you about something else.”

“What about?” You asked. She was silent a moment before speaking, probably organizing her thoughts of what to say first. “Kisame and Tobi both spoke to all of us about you. We weren’t sworn to secrecy, so I have no issue with telling you some of what was said. So far, it looks like you’ll be joining us permanently…you’ve impressed quite a few of us with your swiftness and efficiency in carrying out your mission thus far.”

“Thanks.” You murmured, looking at her out the corner of an eye.

“Don’t thank me; it’s a fact not a compliment.” She stated flatly. “Beyond that, no one really mentioned what happened with Sasori, but I cornered Kisame when I saw him leaving your room last night. He heard some of your conversation with Sasori, and said you looked quite flustered and tired when he saw you himself. What I want to know for myself is why you let him push you around like that.”

These words were met with dead silence. “Well?” She asked a little testily, noticing that the kitchen was just at the end of the hall. You two could hear the low rumble of various male voices from the room. You stopped walking and looked at her.

“It was because when I use such a jutsu; it puts a tremendous strain on my body and my soul.” You informed her quietly. “Sasori wasn’t extremely strong himself in that moment, but I had also combined three jutsu into one with the ritual I executed. It will allow him to heal quicker than is normal for the human body without the repercussions. He’ll be able to do anything he could do before he transferred to a puppet’s body once he wakes up this morning, and once he is entirely healed, the jutsu will end. Until he finishes healing entirely, so he is at 100% efficiency as a shinobi, my chakra will drain in increments. I can tell that he isn’t done healing yet. He has a little more to go; mainly it is involved in his chakra.”

Konan stared at you, having stopped walking and stood in front of you. Her eyes were wide with curiosity and a bit of shock. She couldn’t believe right off that you’d just tell her, just like that. “Then, explain to me.” She said slowly. “Why is it that the old woman died when bringing the kazekage back to life, but you did not when bringing back three people in _one day_? As well as maintaining a jutsu such as the one you explained?”

“Is that something you want to know, or something the Leader wants to know?” You asked mildly, shifting a little where you stood.

“Does it matter?” She asked you blankly.

“No, not really, but I’d think it would be obvious. I can regenerate all the various energies I use, and one of those two people wasn’t even dead.”

Konan was once again staring at you, but this time it was more like a; ‘holy hell, you seriously don’t have fifteen heads hidden in the hood attached to your shirt, do you?’ look. 

“You seem a little surprised!” You laughed. “Please, Konan. There are other factors as well. For instance, Chiyo was very old. And lest we forget, she also battled against Sasori and sustained many wounds. I had seen her after that fight, when she was healing the Kazekage. She is the very one who inspired me to learn the art of resurrection. Now, think of this as well. Since she was very old to begin with, _and_ her energy was depleted from the prior battle, she was very low on chakra. She had to use her life energy for it anyway, but that’s where her age comes into account; she had not nearly enough life energy to offer, and therefore, she had to accept help when it was given. Even Naruto felt the burn when he donated his own life essence to Gaara, and he is still young. Ever since I was a child I’ve been able to heal any aspect of myself, merely by thinking about it. Anyone in the Gyaku Clan who learns how to focus their chakra can do it.” You concluded your explanation quietly, then gave her a nasty smirk. “Now you can tell Leader what you just learned, because I’m _not_ about to repeat myself.” 

Konan watched you walk away towards the kitchen, awestruck. It should be entirely impossible to force your own chakra and life energy to regenerate. It would be like burning a candle at both ends. Though there you stood just a second ago, telling her that it was a talent that ran in the family. 

“Is it a kekkei genkai?” She asked, hurrying to catch up with you as you stepped into the kitchen, walking past the others without glancing to see who was present in the room. “No.” You responded, going to the refrigerator. It was a large walk-in. Shouldn't that be too dangerous in an organization of murderers? If someone got mad, they could lock you in the fridge. 

“I know it isn’t a kekkei genkai because it is an ability that not everyone in my family has, but most of us could probably do it if they learned.” Then you laughed. “Oh wait…that’s right. My family is _dead_. It’s not like I’ll be able to tell you for sure now, eh?” Konan watched as you walked further inside the fridge and looked around. “Someone needs to go shopping. Eh, it’s salvageable…I’m making myself something for breakfast, would you like some with me Konan? I promise I won’t poison it.” You grinned at her over your shoulder.

She was staring at you a lot lately. Cute as a button, such the pleasant little murderer. “S-sure…” She answered, her neutral expression long gone for that of disbelief. “I’ll help if you want.”

“Nah, you’ll slow me down but thanks anyway.” You told her, smirking and coming out with several items in your arms. The kitchen was pretty clean, except for the table where the men were all eating and chattering away. They seemingly hadn’t noticed either of you enter the room, even if you were the only one in the room not clad in a red-clouded cloak. Konan stood near you and watched. “I must say, you’re full of surprises, Saiya. A shinobi who can cook?”

“Don’t say that until you taste it.” You told her. “You don’t know if you’ll like my food.”

She watched you chop things up, and then toss them into a waiting pan. There was a faint sizzle. You threw two more things in, and then started sautéing the contents of the hot pan. It already smelled fantastic! Well. In comparison to what other people ate, anyway. 

“What do you usually eat for breakfast, Konan?”

“Just fruit and tea.” She said, now beginning to make a pot of tea. She felt funny just standing there. You cocked an eyebrow at her. “Really now.”

“It’s better than eating instant ramen, that’s what they all have unless we have other instant food.” Konan responded flatly. 

“…..” You stared at her like _she_ had fifteen heads hidden somewhere. “…I…instant…ramen…?” You asked, unable to comprehend this. “No wonder why you people all look like total crap.” You growled distastefully. Making the real thing was much better. You must’ve made thousands of bowls of ramen at the restaurant you worked at when you still lived in the Grass Country. But that was the good stuff! “I think something’s about to change then, Konan.” You told her, adding something else to the pan.

“And what would that be?” She inquired, a bluish eyebrow rising.

“The menu, because how the hell can you people all survive off that shit? You’ll all turn YELLOW or something.” You stressed the word 'yellow', as if it was unthinkable.

“We have more than just chicken, but that’s the last one to go.” She giggled. 

“Ch, yeah, whatever, I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to give you an order, and if you don’t follow it you won’t be waking up tomorrow…tell Leader we need whoever stocks the kitchen to buy up a list of various items, I’ll write it down after breakfast. If you guys want, it can come out of my future pay, I don’t give a fuck, I’ve got more than enough money as it is. But I refuse to eat nothing but instant food. My upbringing won't allow it. And I'm, used to cooking for a crowd anyway."

Konan gaped at you as you set a bowl of wonderful-smelling freshly-made goodness in front of her, and then laid a set of chopsticks across the top. “Now eat, I could snap you like a twig.” You demanded, then poured some of the tea she brewed for the both of you and began chowing down on your own meal. You might eat quickly because you were starving since you never had dinner, but still ate neatly and were well within your manners.

After Konan ate some, she almost looked tearful. “Oh, it’s so good Saiya-chan!” She exclaimed, then ate more, a bit ravenous herself. You laughed lightheartedly. “Thanks!” 

“I’ll make sure he doesn’t take it out of your pay, we need to eat like this all the time!”

“Well, maybe just us two.” You winked at her and both of you chuckled, and then continued eating in silence at the island in the kitchen. The men had noticed something smelled good by now, but they were all done eating. A few of them left, but their dishes were left at the table. You almost gagged on your tea when you saw that. “What the f-…do they think the cleaning fairy is gonna come and take care of that for them?!”

“Yes.” Konan said very seriously. “We have staff that cleans this place up for us, because it isn’t our job.” 

“Oh.” You said, deflating. "Are there crook-cooks you recruit or something?"

“More like people who have a will to live, and would prefer this life over death. Sometimes they cook whenever a lot of us are around the base.”

“I see.” The cogs were turning in your mind. “Is there any paper around here? And a pen?” When you turned around, Konan was looking at you while holding both out to you. You looked around, but didn’t bother to ask where it came from, and then went to checking out the fridge and the pantry cabinets to see what they had that was available.

“Alrrrriiiight…not as bad as I though. We’ll neeeeed…” You began scribbling down a long list of items, and how much of each was required. 

“Smells good in here.” A new voice stated quietly. No one was here but you and Konan until now. This new person, when you poked your head out of the fridge, happened to be one you’ve never seen before. Except for the eyes.

He even sounded a little different, probably because right now he needn’t project his voice across a dark room. “Uhm..? Thanks.” You said, and then glanced at Konan.

“Good morning Pein.” She said to him. “Hungry?”

“Very much so.” He said. You were amazed at yourself for not staring; never in your life had you seen one with so many piercings. For that matter, you were amazed he could even smell anything with those bars through his nose. “There’s some of what Konan and I had in the pan on the stove if you want it. I’m used to cooking at a resteraunt so I accidentally made a little too much.” Really, all you ended up making was three servings, the third being a very large helping.

He nodded and did help himself to it, and shortly found himself really enjoying what you made. You, meanwhile, were finishing up your list. When Konan saw you were done scribbling away, she snatched the slip of paper and the pen from you and put them down in front of Pein. “We need these things for the kitchen. Is that okay?” She simpered, pouring him some tea. “You know yourself now that Saiya is an excellent cook; it might be beneficial for us all to take a better interest in what we eat.”

“Lest your men all end up with stomach ulcers.” You muttered under your breath. 

His ringed grey eyes looked up at you a little blankly when you said that. 

“I’m not kidding you know.” You told him flatly.

“So I see.”

“So?” You prodded impatiently. Pein turned his attention back to his bowl of food and polished off the last few bites. “We shall see what happens.” Pein told you and Konan, and then he rose from his chair and left the room. You could swear the room became three degrees warmer once the Akatsuki leader whom had all the warmth of a cucumber (or a snow pea, perhaps) left the area. Konan blew out a sigh and tucked some strays back behind an ear, then fixed her origami flower where it was situated in her hairdo. “Don’t mind him. He is not good at interacting with others.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that. I’m willing to bet money that he is just acting that way to keep distant and untouched. Something tells me that he is _quite_ the silver-tongued devil.” You objected lightly, and then looked to the mess of dishes on the counter and on the table. “So if it’s okay to leave this, then I will. I never did like cleaning up after I cook.” Thankfully when you did have to, you weren’t exactly what could be called a ‘disaster’ in the kitchen; it did not look like a tsunami crashed through the kitchen when you finished cooking. The rest of your family was different, and they seemed entirely unable to wrap their heads around the concept of, ‘cleaning up as you go’. 

“It’s fine.” She said.

“Did you happen to see the resident Pumpkinhead yet this morning?” You questioned.

“No. Why?”

“Oh, he’s been helping me out. I wanted to ask him where Deidara’s remains are and also where the nearest hot spring is.” You told her. Konan bit her lower lip in thought and quirked a brow. “I believe that his remains are kept in a scroll, which was left in his room. As for the hot springs, there are quite a few of them in the woods outside of this place, but if you’re going out to make use of them then I suggest you be on your guard. We’re in an organization of all men, each of whom is fairly lonely to all appearances. Surely you understand my meaning.”

“I’m not an idiot.” You bit out with unnecessary sharpness. “I know exactly what you’re talking about. But what I need the hot springs for is to bring Deidara back to life. After all, water is a _source_ of life. We cannot live without either water or air, and a hot spring has access to plenty of both…at a very good temperature as well, a fairly proper temperature to incubate life, as long as the hot spring is not actually boiling. I’ll have to scout the area out ahead of time, in preparation for the event itself. I advise that you all keep away and trust me on this one without supervision.”

Konan raised both her eyebrows. “You’re asking for the impossible. We cannot fully trust you when we don’t know you yet.”

“This is true, Konan. But know this: if everything is not perfect, I will die and Deidara’s soul could be lost forever. I must not be distracted whatsoever. This is going to be the most complicated revival yet.” Your tone was very grave. Clearly you meant it when you said it. If the severe tone of voice wasn't enough, Konan also knew it by looking into your eyes. “Konan, you have to understand. I’m not a seasoned professional when it comes to bringing people back from the dead. These last three that I’ve worked on…they’re the only three whom I actually succeeded on with no apparent side effects. This isn’t a familiar practice; it’s more like training for me. I’m almost as much in the dark as you all are. I’m coming up with all these ways to bring people back simply by the creativity of my common sense. And that’s the truth. You and the rest of Akatsuki are going to have to accept that, and even if you don’t, tough shit." You lightened up a degree. "Anyway Konan thanks for the information. I’m off to find Deidara’s living quarters.” With all this said you turned on your heel and started for the door out of the kitchen. Konan was standing there, face again emotionless and her insides devoid of any good feeling whatsoever. You were just stepping through the door when you heard her voice.

“Saiya!” She called. 

You stopped and looked over your shoulder at her, silently asking her what she wanted.

“…Good luck.” 

Your response was a faint smirk before you bobbed your acquiescence to her and left down the hallway, leaving the black and red robed woman behind.

The halls were silent and serene as you traversed them. You were wondering how you’d find Deidara’s room when you hardly remembered where your own was. Upon turning a corner, someone held something black up in front of you and you stopped dead, almost leaping back and pulling out a fist full of senbon. But you relaxed before doing so. It was Sasori, holding your forgotten leather coat.

“You left this.” He told you. His voice was a low purr in the silent gloom of the halls. You reached up and tugged it from his grasp, and then pulled the coat on for now. “Thanks.”

He cocked his head at an angle, his spiky red locks shimmering in the dim lighting and rustling silkily to the side with the movement of his head. “Lost?” He asked shortly. 

You rolled your eyes at the question. What was it with people and asking such things when the answer is so obvious? It was _too easy_ , you had to say it. “No, I have recently become navigationally impaired while on the search for a specific location.” 

He looked at you as though to reprimand you and call you an idiot with his eyes alone. “Where are you going?”

“Deidara’s room, he’s the last I have to resurrect. Would you care to escort me there?”

“I’d rather bring you to my workshop.” He half-growled, looking irritated at the mention of the blond. Damn, what the hell was with these people? First Hidan and Kakuzu, now Sasori and Deidara. They all act like they hate each other yet are _clearly_ madly in love, not that Deidara could yet be spoken for. But if he was anything like the others in this group, and from the selection of ‘lack-thereof’ personalities so far, you decided it was likely he was just the same. Just as gloomy and imposing as the others, who so desperately acted the role of the tough, egomaniacal super criminals.  
“Sasori? You just leeched out almost a sixteenth of my life energy while healing. I just brought you back to life. If you don’t bring me to his goddamned room, I’ll just have to torture the living fuck out of you until you die again, and I _will not_ be bringing you back this time.” You snapped at him crossly, remembering how he’d treated you before. Sasori gave you an extremely strange look.

“And don’t keep me waiting, you lug. Hurry the hell up, I haven’t got all of eternity!” 

He decided to shut up and bring you to Deidara’s room, strangely enough. Maybe it was that he _does_ owe you one. It might also have something to do with the fact that he has an extraordinarily visual mind and he could picture all of your adorable threats. Why deal with you when he had a chance to put an end to his debt (or so he hoped) and then be on his way rather than stand here and waste precious time? Besides all that, Deidara’s room was along the path he was traveling; Sasori had been on the way to evaluate the damage on his puppets back at the old battle site.

It was minutes later of quiet walking that Sasori stopped at the mouth of a hallway and pointed into it. “His room is at the end of this hall.” Then, nothing more said, Sasori left you alone…something you were thankful for. Sasori might be easier on the eyes than a few other people around here, but that did not change the fact that he had done wrong by you the moment he came back into this world. None had ever dared touch you in such a way as he had. You’d always been one of the most deadly warriors of your country, and also a chef. A, you were respected. B, you don’t fuck with the one who makes your food…it’s common sense and self preservation. Yet here you are among your equals or perhaps, your betters. The others made you feel much smaller. The 'larger than life' sensation was gone. Sasori so far was the worst of them all, having performed the tiniest of stunts that truly got to you. That night, you had arched your spine and shivered under even the lightest touch of his experienced fingers. You did not do that under your own power. He had _made_ you do it with chakra strings, as though you were another marionette in his collection.

Hopefully you’d manage to show Sasori a thing or two about whom he was dealing with, but first things first; you needed to get that scroll.

And you did, finding it almost immediately after walking into Deidara’s room. This was his workshop though, not his bedchamber. The scent of clay hung in the air. This place, rather unlike Sasori’s shop, was not overrun by weirdly neat and methodical chaos. This room was more lived in, with things were they didn’t belong and a few paint spills here and there amongst other things. You got the distinct sense that the artist that made use of this studio was actually alive; not some rough wooden clod like Sasori.

The scroll you sought had been tossed unceremoniously onto the nearest workbench. You picked it up and then ventured across the studio to another door, and through this door was a bedroom. You turned on a light and looked around for where Deidara kept his clothes. Like with Hidan and Kakuzu, you’d need some clothing for him to get into once he was back in the realm of the living. 

You found the clothing quickly enough as well, and bundled it up with a couple other things neatly before putting it in your messenger bag. Then you left, turning off lights as you went. There was almost no sense in bringing his bags of clay. It may be sensitive to movement if it wasn't all dried out; and you didn't want to cause an explosion. But erring on the side of caution, you carefully picked the tan bags up and packed them away with the clothes. There was always the possibility that enemies could come running, and if they did, the likelihood that you'd be defenseless by the end of the revival jutsu was great. Deidara's resurrection would be the most taxing of all, as there wasn't much to work with. Hopefully he'd have the presence of mind to protect both of you if it came to that when he awoke, and that's purely assuming that the ritual wouldn't be interrupted and spoiled before it reached its conclusion.

It was time to go to your own room now and custom make some scrolls. It was in your best interest that everything is as perfect as can be, and you also decided that you’d have to throw together a makeshift barrier so that no one could disturb you when you needed to concentrate most. A few paper notes for the barrier could do the trick, but it wouldn’t be all that strong. It wouldn’t be powerful enough to hold if someone decided they _really_ needed to get inside, but hopefully everyone else would get the idea that you didn’t want to be bothered while in the middle of a resurrection. 

As time went on, you accomplished the tasks you set for yourself to prepare yourself and the corpse for what needed to be done last. You were now crouching at the lip of a pool of steaming water. It was easy to tell that this water was enough above normal body temperature for it to be clean of anything harmful. Next what you had to do was summon Deidara’s remains from the scroll, and then let them settle in the bottom of the shallow pool of hot water. While the ragged, man-sized piece of flesh and splintered bone sunk to the bottom, you stood up and started pinning paper barrier notes to trees, though they looked more like little scrolls. There were five tiny scrolls in all, and when activated with a few simple hand seals, they formed a barrier of dark energy, which stopped you from being distracted by your surroundings and also didn’t allow any onlookers. This was perfect for you. The barrier was a bit lighter in hue at the top, bluer than black, and allowed a very minimal amount of light to filter through. The interior of this dark dome was lit as though you’d set up a black light inside of it.

There was only one thing left to do.

You sat on your knees inches away from the steaming water and took a senbon, and then sliced from the tip of each index finger down to the center of the heels of your hands, then placed your bleeding hands in the seal of the tiger. Blood began to run and drip, for you held your hands out and away from your body. The red fluid dribbled steadily into the water that you held your hands over. Your fingers began to work into other symbols gradually, your eyes now closed. There was total silence in here. No disturbances. Already, a thin ribbon of blood was starting to twist its snakelike way towards Deidara’s remains, as you were forcing it to move towards him rather than disperse in the water. It would be a chakra conductor. Blood always does the job for these things, and regretfully, Deidara's obliterated remains didn't have any to offer for a ritual like Sasori's. 

It would continue on like this for some time.

 

_Outside the Barrier…_

“How long has it been now?” Konan asked Pein.

“ Three and a half hours.” He informed her, looking around the area with keen eyes. It was too quiet in the woods, even before Konan spoke. Neither of them had moved a muscle since they got here which was right after you put up your barrier. They’d come because Pein decided that you might call too much attention to yourself. This hot spring was fairly far from the hideout, but unfortunately, it was also a bit closer to Konoha. Too close for comfort. Pein had everyone whom wasn’t out on a mission stationed around this place, just in case. Tobi had warned him that someone might be attracted to this area if they sensed a disturbance. You never know who’s out here. A lot of shinobi tend to head out into the wilderness to train, where they can train in peace either alone or in teams. ANBU was even known to have some team training drills out here where no one should be able to see them. 

“So you say she’s quite free with her information?” Pein randomly asked, trying to strike up conversation with Konan. He wasn’t used to her silence.

“Yes she is. I wonder why?”

“Some people don’t care what others know.” He said.

“I know that, but most would rather keep the element of surprise. Oh! Here is Itachi and Kisame.”

The other two had been the last to arrive here, since they’d been on the hunt for Kisame’s junchuuriki target. Sadly there was no luck, so they came here to watch over you as well. Kisame gave his equivalent to a pleasant smile and turned to examine your makeshift barrier from a short distance. “Wow.” He said.

“Wow what?” Konan asked.

“You know, she must have a chakra reserve almost as large as my own if she can maintain _that_ while resurrecting someone.” Kisame informed her. “Think about it…barriers usually require more than one person to hold it.”

“It’s very weak though.” Konan said. “It wouldn’t be able to endure an assault, which is why we are all here now. We need to make sure nothing happens, so this can be done with.”

“Once we have Deidara back, we would be able to extract another demon.” Pein told them quietly, his eyes of various shades of grey never leaving your small chakra dome.

Kisame's expression echoed disbelief. “That’s a little fast, don’t you think? He'll have to rest first or he'll be useless.”

Itachi turned and looked towards the south. “We have got company.” He drawled. They followed his gaze and saw it too.

Not far away was Might Guy’s team, all standing between two gigantic trees and talking. They were fairly far away, too far to hear anything they said. Since Guy and Lee were the ones standing nearest, and they both wore green, they weren’t seen right off the bat. Especially with vegetation clouding the view of the group of shinobi.

“Now what?” Konan whispered, pulling a sheet of origami from her sleeve and beginning to fold it with rapid fingers. 

“Nothing.” Itachi answered. “They have not seen us.”

“Nothing _yet_.” Kisame grumbled irritably. He was ready to whip Samehada off his back. Zetsu, Tobi, Kakuzu and Hidan all had drawn closer to your barrier and looked towards their fearless leader, Pein, for orders.

“Itachi, Kisame. Stay where you are and guard the barrier in sight. The rest of us will hide until the situation gets worse.” Pein ordered. Everyone promptly vanished from sight, save for Kisame and Itachi.

Though Kisame was a little confused. _’Until the situation gets worse?’_ Like they couldn’t handle those four? No. 

Something _else_ was wrong.

 

_With You…_

 

The events of the world outside your little chakra bubble were unknown to you. For that matter, you had no idea what was going on in front of you either; your eyes were tightly closed. It was hard to keep them closed. Your curiosity burnt at your eyelids, but they remained shut. You wanted to see how the regeneration of the body was coming along, but you knew that if you looked, you’d probably lose focus, and that was something that you couldn’t afford. After all, the regeneration of a shredded corpse isn’t a pretty thing to behold. By now, the small pool of water was probably thick with blood, and not all of it yours. The slices on your hands were healed now. Scratch that. From the scent of the air, it no longer smelled like water here anymore. The water was so red, so infused with chakra and blood, if you peeked you might think it had converted _into_ blood, and Deidara, as he slowly but surely regenerated, would be able to soak in as much of it as possible. The water had been too warm to incubate the filth of germs, and since it was also filtered, pure water from a spring, and there wasn't any dirt to speak of in the pool itself, but rocks instead. It was perfect for your needs. Such places were a dime a dozen here in Konoha, but to find one small enough was more of a challenge, as most of the hot springs were very large. 

Your mind was wandering, something you tried to avoid. No more distractions. You knew that the bloody pool was thoroughly infused with chakra, and the body would be almost entirely repaired. Time was crossing by your way so slowly, but unbeknownst to you, this was happening hundreds of times faster than you thought. Maybe too fast.

You drew a deep breath and let it out slowly as you continued to regulate the flow of your chakra. Meditate. Be calm and still. All things in time.

 

_Outside the Dome…_

 

“I don’t get what he’s so worried about.” Kisame grunted to Itachi, who closed his dark eyes and exhaled slowly through his nose. “…”

“I know that this situation isn’t to be taken lightly, but isn’t this extreme?” He asked Itachi. By now, Kisame was so used to the feeling that he was talking to a wall, that he ignored to sensation of…well…being ignored. Except much to his surprise, Itachi opened his eyes, which were now overtaken by his crimson sharingan, and did speak after all. 

“Jiraiya is nearby with his student.”

Oh! That explains a bit, now doesn’t it? Kisame nodded once after a moment. He hadn't been paying attention. This was why they were chosen to stay here, out in the open. The kyuubi is Itachi’s target, and Kisame could help. Aside from that, they had to make sure you’d be alright. Jiraiya, being a sannin, would pose a threat as it is. But the jinchuuriki Naruto as well? If he got pissed off, the fox would rear his ugly head and take over the boy’s body. Kisame wondered why he never noticed them, and even now he couldn’t see them when he looked around. 

“They are training.” Itachi added as an afterthought.  
“It’s too perfect.” Kisame chuckled. ”The kid will be worn out for you. And Jiraiya will probably be a bit tired himself.” 

“Yes, far too perfect.” Itachi murmured, large red eyes scanning around the area. Guy’s team hadn’t even begun to train; they were all stuck in the midst of some argument. The Hyuga’s back was to Itachi and Kisame right now, thankfully, or else he’d of spotted them by now with his white eyes.

Thankfully there were no strings attached. This is just the way the cards fell. They didn’t know that though.

 

_With You…_

Yet again, the thing on your mind was concentrating your chakra into Deidara’s repairing body. But the drain on you was so humongous. The reason? You had combined all that you needed to do into one technique, echoing a similar procedure you followed with Sasori. His soul was here already, and it had been since the beginning, you kept it there for motivation. He had followed you on his own from the workshop. Deidara’s here, he’s watching, you better not fuck up because if you do, you’ll pay for it. Naturally, he remembered his own appearance, so you were drawing it from the memory of Deidara’s spirit. 

While you refused to open your eyes and see what was happening, Deidara’s soul had settled down right next to you, sitting on his knees and looking from you to his body, which was almost entirely healed.

The blood which had taken place of the water was now entirely gone without even so much as a stain on the rocks, and warm, clear water was once again filling up the small rocky basin. His corpse was lying naked in a growing pool of water, and Deidara’s soul was ready to jump into his body and once again take control of it, except you were still forcing some repairs take place so that everything would be in perfect working order. What put the most strain on you, was ‘custom tailoring’ his body. What is meant by that, is…well, allowing the mouths on his hands and chest to grow, except so far you’d only been able to give him the mouths on his hands and not the mouth on his chest. Also, he no longer had his mechanical eyepiece, and instead had two normal eyes. Aside from that, everything was normal about him. You were working on getting that third mouth to form, but it was such a pain! Deidara’s spirit watched your face contort in frustration and exhaustion, and though he had a cruel streak in him he still felt bad that he was silently demanding so much from you, but he noticed that you appeared to understand the necessity of these things.

Deidara must be restored in such a manner that he would not lose his usefulness to the Akatsuki. The only thing, which was a given, was that you couldn’t give him his mechanical eye. Man, he’d feel naked without it, especially around Itachi.

 __ _\How's it looking?\_ You inquired of him, your mental voice sounding more like a weak whisper.

 _[ Almost. Hang in there. ]_ There, the first kind words he’d spoken since he died. Although, unlike the others, he was extremely thankful that you were doing this. He couldn’t be _more_ thankful. It turned out that death wasn't his thing.

 

_Outside the Dome…_

 

“What the hell?” Kisame wondered, turning around and looking at the barrier behind them. It was flickering a little, and he caught a sight of what it looked like in there. Itachi was looking too; even he seemed a bit bothered.

“She has _more_ chakra than you, Kisame.” Itachi said, turning fully to look at the barrier. It flickered again. 

“That’s what’s really bothering me.” Kisame said, all the good humor gone from his voice, which sounded really weird to Itachi. “How much chakra does it take? I only need to give a small percent to the ritual for extracting jinchuuriki and that takes all of us, but here she is starting to run out of chakra. I’m wondering how she’s keeping the barrier up too.”

“Did you not see them?” Itachi said. “Paper seals. She is not capable of holding the barrier up herself."

“Well well, what’ve we got here?” Said a new voice. They looked off to the side to see Jiraiya, with Naruto trailing along behind him.

 

Kisame and Itachi turned towards them, but said nothing.

“Yeah, seriously, what is it?” Naruto asked, walking curiously up to the dome. It didn’t look at all dangerous…in fact, it looked kind of flimsy. He reached a hand out towards it, but before he could touch it, he found the wrapped blade of the Samehada in his way. Naruto jumped backwards. “Hey!” He protested. “I wasn’t gonna do anything!”

Itachi stared at him. It was like Naruto never grew up. It was also rather like he was entirely blind.

Naruto’s blue eyes glared at Itachi and immediately he became rather stern. He took up a defensive position with a bit of a scowl. _”You.”_ He grumbled through gritted teeth. “I still owe you one.”

“Technically not.” Itachi said, tilting his head. “You owe my _replacement_ one.”

“I didn’t know Itachi was capable of humor!” Came a boisterous, proud male voice, which of course…was Guy. They’d heard Naruto and Jiraiya’s loud mouths, and came over to see what the ruckus was all about. “Naruto! Be careful!” Lee called over, also striking a defensive pose. It was at this point that the rest of the Akatsuki were creeping around them, surrounding them without anyone’s knowledge. Neji had not yet activated his Byakugan either, so they’d remain hidden for a bit now. Sasori then realized something, as he got into position. 

He only had some very mediocre puppets with him, since he had not enough time to even scavenge around the battle site and see what he could repair. Despite his undeniable skill with any puppet, he could only do so much when his own skill far outstripped the potential of the puppet at his command. He bitterly hoped that this wouldn't turn into a drawn out affair. 

“I believe its sarcasm, not actual humor.” Neji said quietly.

“What is this all about anyway?” Naruto asked, looking at Kisame rather than Itachi. Since Naruto’s little skirmish with Itachi’s body double, which was even capable of casting techniques like Tsukiyomi and various fire jutsus unique to his clan, Naruto was all the wiser now. He was extremely wary of Itachi’s gaze, but it was so hard to avoid looking into his eyes, which is where you are taught to look first for any hint that’ll give away the opponent’s next move. 

“We don’t owe you any explanations.” Kisame pointed out as he shouldered his blade. “So take a hike already.”

“They’re too calm.” Tenten said to Neji and Lee, her lips barely moving, so quiet was she. “Something else is wrong.”

Neji got the hint and activated his Byakugan, which is when the hidden Akatsuki all came into view.

Now, let it be known that being surrounded by a group of battle-hardened s-class criminals isn’t exactly a comforting sight. Even Jiraiya looked quite worried, seeing them all there. He figured he’d be able to handle himself, but what he was most concerned about was Naruto, whom wasn’t exactly the most even keeled person there, shall we say? If one wrong thing happened, he’d get mad enough potentially unleash the Nine-Tailed Fox, and then there’d be hell to pay. In fact, he’d already started to get pissed off.

“You’re the reason why he left, you bastard!” He snarled at Itachi. “Where’s Sasuke?! TELL ME! And how the hell are THEY alive?!” He pointed towards Hidan and Kakuzu…Sasori, however, was not in sight. He actually had to manage to stay out of the way this time, since basically he wasn’t very useful just yet without good puppets that wouldn’t break in half at a single punch. He also was not totally used to his living body just yet. Because of this, Pein glanced in his direction, and then spoke to him mentally.

 _– Leave, Sasori. Make sure no one follows you. -_  
Sasori pulled the hood of his cloak tighter around himself and looked around carefully before leaping off the branch of his tree to another one, and then he started moving on a long, roundabout route back to the hideout. Since a Hyuuga was there, he knew he was probably being watched, even if it was just in his peripheral vision.

Itachi closed his eyes with a sigh. So this is how he was going to be, eh? Although, the knowledge of how his brother severed his ties from Konoha interested him deeply. Did Sasuke believe that he could gain the Mangekyou without killing his best friend? It was so clear that Naruto cared for Sasuke, the boy eternally overcast in Itachi’s shadow. 

Lee took up his usual taijutsu battle position once again, face set in a serious expression. “Yes, if you know, tell us!”

“Enough of this crap!” Hidan bellowed, swinging his scythe off his back and going straight after the nearest opponent, which happened to be Tenten. She whipped her large scroll off her back, unfurled a portion of it, and began to fire a barrage of blades at Hidan, who either blocked or avoided them on his way towards her. Surprisingly he had the presence of mind to make sure they were deflected away from the barrier dome. Normally he is too reckless for such discretion.

Kisame looked at Guy, whom was staring at the shark man with a furrowed brow. “I know you from somewhere.” He stated, and they took up battle positions as well.

Elsewhere, everybody else was facing off against one another. Jiraiya was even having a hard time with his opponent, who was Pein. Pein proved to be one not to be taken lightly, even by a sannin, but the trouble was he had to restrain himself so as not to draw _more_ unwanted attention. Tobi and Zetsu watched over your barrier while Itachi engaged Naruto in a heated fight. Itachi knew this was as good a chance as any to capture his target. Although the way that Naruto’s comrades were acting, he didn’t know if he could. They would all fight close together. Even a prodigy like Neji was having an extraordinarily hard time keeping up with his opponent. These Akatsuki were certainly deserving of their titles…murderers, deserters, bastards, what have you, call them what you want, but anyone who can run the gauntlet like this…doing battle with multiple opponents…it was so disorienting, and Neji was barely keeping himself unscathed. He’d done his Hakkesho Kaiten so many times _already_ that his brain was sloshing around in a whirlpool of fluid in his skull. If he did it one more time he thought his ears would bleed. Tenten's mega-scroll had been damaged badly enough where she had to discard it. She only had the weapons on her person now, and a few slim ninja scrolls. It’s a good thing the girl was a walking arsenal, or else she’d be dead in the leaves right now.

Lee was frustrated, but he struggling along as well in the way that only Rock Lee can persevere. There were absolutely no rules in this battle, and also, there were no real opponents except for Pein versus Jiraiya, and Itachi versus Naruto. Tobi and Zetsu would take a snap at anyone who got too close, and because of that, Kakuzu and Hidan would purposefully corner their various enemies against them. Trees were burning in areas where Itachi utilized his fire, and there were craters in the ground where Naruto missed with a Rasengan. In other places, the woods were drenched with Kisame’s water jutsus. This place was a scene of total mayhem.

 

_Inside the Dome…_

Within you little protective barrier, you heard nothing of the fight and nor did you see anything of it. But Deidara’s soul saw it, and his translucent eyes narrowed. He wanted to prod you and hurry you along with this, but that wouldn’t get him anywhere and he knew it. Although …right as he was about to say something about it…

Deidara’s spirit never moved so fast. It blurred towards his body, and flooded into his partially opened mouth. You focused harder, trying to keep the revival jutsu going until his soul was thoroughly connected to its vessel. When it was, the jutsu would be severed. You just had to keep it going until it ended itself.

The next minute felt like a year, but then you felt the sense of emptiness. Your eyes slowly opened, and you fell backwards off your knees and onto the flat of your back, chest heaving, a thin sheen of perspiration covering your skin. Never had you exerted so much chakra out of your body in one sitting before. Deidara had been so badly...uh… _mauled_ that you had no choice. 

You didn’t see him sit up, but you heard him groan when he did. His limbs were stiff but they were working. But he rose to his feet slowly and bent and twisted a bit, some of his joints and his spine popping as he did. He spied the bag of his things you’d told him about, and he went to it and got dried off as quickly as possible. The pool of water you’d revived him in was as it should be now, perfectly clear and steamy with warmth. He almost felt overheated, but hey, who was he to complain? Above all, he was _alive_ again.

He finished getting dressed after he dried himself off, then hastily threw his hair up into its usual style. You’d even salvaged his hitai-ate, having wiped all the dried blood and dirt off of it, and it shined in the ghostly light of the dome. He put it on, and then looked into the two bags of clay you’d brought for him. He looked down at the palms of his hands after he strapped on a belt around his waist and put on his cloak. The mouths on his hands opened slowly at will, then after he moved them a little more they too were no longer numb and disused feeling. 

Deidara turned and looked at where you laid, chest heaving, just inches from the waterline. He walked over to you and knelt down, his long blond locks tickling your face softly. Your eyes opened slowly, and you looked up at him through half-lidded eyes.

Either it was truth or delirium, but right now he was practically beautiful. Apparently your hard work paid off, because his new skin was flawless, his blue eyes pierced down into yours, and they shimmered in the pallid light of the dome. His hair which tickled your face even looked like a sheet of golden silk. You couldn’t see anything beyond his face right now. Your vision was so distorted since you were too tired to open your eyes all the way and focus them. 

“…You a…angel…?” You asked, speech broken by exhaustion. “I can't be...dead..."

Deidara couldn’t help but chuckle, and shake his head. You were blatantly delirious from the effort of restoring his body and soul, so he didn't take the question to heart. “You’re alive, un.”

“Oh…good…I think…” You said, and closed your eyes. 

“What’s your name?” The blond bombshell asked, standing up and looking around. Hmm, this dome was so weak, if he so much as sneezed then the barrier would fall. He saw a few paper notes pressed to the trunks of a few nearby trees. They were beginning to smoke and blacken at the edges. 

“Gyaku…S-Saiya…” 

“Well Saiya, thank you. Thanks for everything, un.”

“Y…you’re…” You couldn’t even say it. You were too tired, and already you slipped into unconsciousness. 

Then the barrier fell, and Deidara turned and looked towards it in mild alarm when it did vanish. Tobi turned his masked face towards you and Deidara, whom was standing right next to you. 

Silence and stillness overtook the chaotic area of the forest.

Many pairs of eyes looked back towards where you laid, and where Deidara stood. 

“H…How!?” Tenten asked in alarm while wiping a streak of blood from the corner of her mouth, staring at Deidara. She’d heard of how he died. That he met such a brutal, explosive end. Many people had heard of it. 

So how the hell was he standing there without even as much as a scratch on him?

“Fall back!” Guy bellowed, seeing Deidara reach towards something at his side beneath the cloak...a bluff, but one they couldn't afford to call. “Get out of here!” 

Deidara smirked, and opened the palm of his hand. They all fled while the Akatsuki stayed and watched them run. It was a good thing this happened when it did, because Naruto had been ready to go kyuubi on Itachi’s ass. His eyes were red, the whisker marks on his cheeks were wider, more defined and feral looking; and his nails were claws. He was ripping mad too, worse than usual in such a state. Itachi knew how to pick his battles. Today was not the day for this.

Jiraiya was actually out of breath, bruised and badly cut in places. He had a hard time dealing with Pein. He didn’t know how much longer he could go on without summoning a toad. He also withdrew with the rest of them, making sure to drag Naruto's angered, reluctant self with him. 

“Well, that’s that.” Konan said, completely unfazed by anything. “Good to have you back, Deidara.”

The blond smiled, and wrapped his cloak tighter around his form. “Good to be back, un.”

“Let’s go. Someone take care of her.” Pein ordered, and then flashed out of sight in the direction of the hideout.

Konan smirked. “Don’t look at me!” And then she went as well. Kisame sighed and picked you up. Itachi gave him a vaguely curious look. “Well someone has to protect her from the rest of you.” Kisame growled. 

“Fuckin’ Sasori isn’t here though, so what’re you talking about?” Hidan grunted.

“He’s not the only one to worry about…now _is he_?” The shark man bit out pointedly.

Deidara chuckled under his breath. “Sasori never wastes time, un.”

“True, that.” Kakuzu grunted before taking off as well. Hidan went after him. 

“I believe they both resent that remark.” Itachi murmured. He seemed to of sunk so low into his cloak that the high collar was up past his nose.

“You’re awfully talkative.” Deidara commented while turning and jumping onto a branch. He could feel Itachi’s eyes burning a hole in his back. Those eyes still hadn’t regressed back to their normal state. 

“Don’t point those at me, un.” Deidara said, not as bothered by this as he pretended to be. Then he sent one last look towards you, his gaze softening a little before he sprang off towards the hideout as well. It felt good to have the wind in his hair again, something solid beneath his feet, the loose material of his cloak whipping around his lightly muscled frame. And yeah, he had to admit he missed having use of both his eyes. Though he’d need to see about having that eye implant done over again, since he now needed a new one.

Meanwhile the others followed, Kisame carrying your limp, tired form in his arms. The hideout was a bit far away from the location you’d chosen for the resurrection site. Kisame was still worried for you, and the worst part is he didn't understand himself for it. You may be cute, but you weren't his type, yet…well…you were _different_ from everyone else. He’d seen the way that the others looked at you. Itachi actually alerted him to it at first. You were a target, even amongst people whom were sought after themselves. You were proving to be valuable in more ways than one, and he had his reasons. Aside from those, Tobi had his plans and you may yet play a part in them. 

Since the Leader said you would become a member of Akatsuki once you accomplished all the missions set forth for you already, and also since you had indeed proven your worth already and accomplished one of your missions as of today, Kisame knew that there would be those within the Akatsuki who would see to it that you failed on your second mission. When already you showed potential to become the backbone of the entire group, whether or not that was the intention. This particular bunch of people doesn't always get along. Itachi was neutral as far as he could tell, as was Hidan and Zetsu. But Tobi already seemed fond of you for reasons of his own (and that was good enough for him), Konan got along with you too. Leader obviously wanted your assistance, or else you wouldn’t be here, so he was no threat.

Then there are those that wanted you dead or alive, which was basically Sasori and apparently Kakuzu. Both men are extraordinarily dangerous. And Kakuzu at least could persuade others whom were presently neutral to your existence within the group to help him…mainly Hidan, whom he could force to see you as a heretic whom must die. And Sasori wanted to turn you into a puppet. As for Deidara, he had no idea. Getting involved in an organization like this came with its threats. 

Kisame brought you to your room and set you down for a second time now, but once again, he’d leave so no one thought anything of it. 

After he closed the door, you shifted in your sleep and curled up against a pillow and dreamt innocently of a blond angel throughout the night.

And for a little while at least, you were in a false heaven.


	7. An Axe to Grind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some interesting conversations and situations arise, both negative and positive feelings are cultivated a little bit more, and Pein decides that now would be an appropriate time to make sure everybody is in fighting shape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rhi: Thank you for the kudos and the reviews. ^^ It took my so long to edit this that I got sick of editing it!! I may catch a few things here and there that need fixing after I post it. That seems to be the way of things.

An Axe to Grind

 

“Wake up wake up, come on, wake _up_...” A patient female voice scissored your sweet dreams apart, and you opened your eyes and stared blearily up at the only other woman in the entire hideout. She was slightly out of breath, indicating that she rushed here. Her cloak wasn’t even fastened. Underneath it, she wore strikingly immodest clothing for one so reserved, and four silver studs could be seen ringing her navel. 

“What?” You growled thickly, pulling your blankets tighter around yourself and attempting to roll over and away from her. Konan wouldn't have it; she grasped your shoulders and pinned you on your back. You glared halfheartedly and yawned. The wheels in your brain weren’t even in motion this early in the morning, whatever hour it was. Her revealing halter top should've startled you more than it did. Not that you knew her well yet. Konan’s eyes searched over you. There was a sense of urgency about her, but she lightened a fraction, seeing how wiped out you still were, even after a sleeping for a long time. “You’ve been unconscious for days.” Konan responded at last, then took noticed of how her cloak was wide open. She began fastening it shut.

“What!?” Your repeated, this time with more feeling. You body nearly ejected itself from its slack position, spine now bolt-upright. “H-how long?!”

“A week now. The servants have been watching over you. Though, Pein...I mean Leader, sent me to wake you up now.” As if part of this wasn't self evident.

Your eyes narrowed a little bit. “Why now and why so frantic?” You got out of bed and allowed the blankets to fall back onto the mattress in a clump. While you continued the conversation with her, you started pulling out some fresh clothes. 

“Kisame, Itachi and Tobi got into a fight while they were on a recon mission. They just got back today. Itachi got off with some minor wounds, but Kisame is in bad shape and Tobi’s left arm and left leg are torn up. They could certainly use your help.” You sighed from where you were now standing in the bathroom. You hair was disheveled, and you had faint circles under your eyes, which made the rest of your skin tone look pale by comparison. But at least you weren’t as bad as you'd been after reviving Deidara. 

“Funny, my hair’s still pretty clean.” You murmured distractedly.

“Again; the servants have been taking care of you. Did you hear a single thing I said?" Konan's temper was flaring a little. Ordinarily she was calmer; it was quite unlike her to become heated at all unless the situation was dire. While the others weren't _that_ badly harmed, she had things to take care of right now, and dealing with your morning grogginess wasn't one of them.

“I’m not deaf.” You told her, frowning down at the bedclothes you were wearing. When she said the servants were taking care of you, there was the distinct hope these strangers hadn't gone to extremes and seen you naked. “Okay, where are they?”

“I’ll lead you to them.” Konan replied, deflating a little. Finally, we're getting somewhere.

“Hold on, let me change. I’ll shower later I guess.” You said, coming out of the bathroom and going towards your clothes. “Give me like three minutes, okay? I’ll be right out.”

Konan nodded and left the room, her origami flower tipping askew in her hair as she closed the door behind her.

You quickly slipped on a deep violet long-sleeved fishnet undershirt, slipping a thumb through the netting at the end of each sleeve. Next, you pulled over it a black hooded top with the Gyaku symbol emblazoned on the back. The insignia itself was a flower with no center, its five long petals sharply pointed. It was edged in black and colored in indigo with a touch of darker purple in the center of each petal. From a distance, it might be harder to see what it is. Unless you're familiar with the Gyaku brand label of alcohol. There were _plenty_ to alcoholics who knew it better than their own pricks. 

Also putting on some well-fitting black pants and the usual black shoes, you finished the ensemble with your hitai-ate around your neck. After yanking a brush through your hair you ran out of the room with a dark canvas bag of medic supplies in hand. 

Konan turned and headed down the hallway, you in hot pursuit. You both jogged at first, then Konan broke into a run and you had to struggle to keep up. Your mind might be awake _now_ , but you rolled out of bed barely six minutes ago and your muscles were a little stiff and sleepy. Your chakra had mostly replenished if nothing else. Now you’d end up spending more energy. Yeah, being a medic is exhausting work but it wasn't anything new; you've been in this field for awhile after all.

You followed Konan into a very large room that could be described as ‘the living area’. Konan had planted herself next to the door and was fixing the paper flower in her hair. In the room, laying on various pieces of furniture was a very tired Itachi, a half-conscious and bloodied up Kisame, and lastly Tobi whom was cradling his left arm. It was twisted at a funny angle. Sasori and Deidara weren’t far away; they were bickering about art (as usual), both sitting in a comfortable chair each, looking irritated. The others were nowhere to be seen.

Your lips traced into a disgruntled line and you went to Kisame, who was in the most immediate danger. You set down the bag of medic supplies and opened it, and glanced through the contents before nearly throwing your hands up in annoyance. There was a bag of a specific herb you would’ve liked to use for the pain, but lo and behold, the bag was nearly empty.

“Alrighty then. This’ll hurt, Kisame.” You said, and grabbed a hold of his right arm, which was hanging loose from its socket, and relocated it. He let out a yell of pain, his sharp triangular teeth bared. 

After that you performed the Mystic Hand technique and began healing his wounds, all of which were very bloody. But the sight of the blood didn’t bother you. What was more concerning was that he seemed to be in too much pain. Bones were healing, torn muscle was fusing back together, blue-gray skin was mending. It took all his strength to keep still, and his muscles twitched with the effort. You paused and frowned at him. It was amazing he was able to withstand this much pain without shrieking his throat raw. Kisame was one tough customer.

So you stopped with jutsu and went into the med pack. From the depths of it, you took a bottle of a clear orange liquid and a senbon. You opened the bottle and dipped the very tip of the needle into the liquid, then allowed the excess liquid to drip off. Then you took the needle and turned to Kisame after setting the bottle down. 

“  
What’re you doing, un?” Deidara asked. He and Sasori had stopped arguing; it wasn’t oing anywhere anyway. 1

“Numbing the pain.” You replied simply. “What’s it to you?”

“It looks more like poison.” Sasori said, his gaze fixed steadily upon you.

“That’s because it is. But a tiny amount will numb his nerves when applied properly. Too much of it would paralyze him for an amount of time. And any more than that would render him permanently paraplegic. That would require most of the bottle.”

Tobi stiffened, and then winced after doing so. “But…”

“No ‘buts’. You’re next. Sit tight, I’ll be done in a few more minutes.” 

Tobi sighed and hung his head. Right now, with a poisoned senbon in hand, you didn’t look very trustworthy. What you just told them could be a lie in most circumstances, but unless you recently felt as if you were in too much danger to stay on with Akatsuki, there was no reason for you to go to such drastic measures. Despite that, Sasori came over and picked up the bottle of orange poison. He swished the contents of it, brown eyes narrowing slightly as he observed the movement of the liquid. 

In the meantime, you pierced a pressure point with the needle, then snatched the bottle from Sasori (whom was almost startled by your quick hands), and dipped another senbon tip into the fluid before puncturing another point on Kisame’s person. You did this a couple more times and once you were finished placing the last needle, you went back to the first one and removed them in order. Sasori watched, eyes sharp and attentive to Kisame’s actions. So far, he saw you had no reason to lie. In addition to puppets, poison is one of his fields of expertise. Though he didn't care about Kisame's wellbeing, he wanted to learn what he could in the event that the two of you got into a fight.

After setting down all the used senbon, you used the mystic hand technique again, and continued healing Kisame. He was quite badly mangled. You wondered what happened to them. When doing recon work, the idea is to not get caught. And for that matter, unless they were all on separate missions, what mission is dangerous enough that puts three Akatsuki in bad shape? Was it a Tailed Beast?

“So is anyone going to tell me what happened?” You asked offhandedly, focusing on the worse of Kisame’s injuries. It quickly sealed shut, and you were finished, now turning in Tobi's direction.

“Its not your business.” Itachi grunted, making a huge grin break out onto your face. “Oh it isn’t? Then who or whatever did this has my congratulations. Not much ruffles _your_ feathers, Uchiha.”

“…” He said nothing and sunk into a bitter, pained silence. You weren't much for witty banter, that's for damned sure, and wasn't content with the response he got either. For someone who isn't part of the organization officially you had too many questions and a mouth that ran unchecked against your soon-to-be superiors.

“Okay Tobi.” You said, walking over to him. “What seems to be the issue?” He tilted his head towards you, and shook his head, indicating that he didn’t know. All he knew was that his arm and his leg hurt very badly, and that he wasn't going to say a word as to why. You sat beside him and took his left arm into your grasp, testing it here and there. “Ow! Ow...ow…!” 

“Pipe down, will you?” You grumbled, holding his sleeve back and sighed. “What’d you do, throw yourself in front of an attack?”

He also said nothing. The truth is, he allowed himself to be injured. So he could experience personally how well you can heal. No one could assume anything wisely without testing, and your testing period was still in progress. This was an impromptu method, but for now, he had to play the dolt and let everybody in the group continue to underestimate him. His one eye watched you keenly from under the mask, where you couldn't see it in improper lighting. Right now you were shaking your head, giving up on the questions. These men were obviously too prideful to say what happened. “Well your arm is broken in three places, and...” You studied his leg. “…Your leg is fractured in two. At least you don’t look like you fell into a meat grinder.” You had been referring to Kisame. Though after how uncharacteristically kind he'd been; humor at his expense was in poor taste, especially while he was recovering and in no mood to retort. 

You fixed Tobi’s broken limbs in short order as well (he whined a little but put up with it), then looked at Itachi whom was in the middle of leaving. While he moved away, you noticed he had a pronounced limp he was trying to suppress. There was also a widening blotch of moisture on his left sleeve along the bicep.

“Don’t tell me you think you’re getting away with that, Uchiha. Get your ass back here.” 

“It's nothing.” His response lacked inflection. If he was hurting, the only way to see it was his limp and the stained cloak sleeve. They were all accustomed to waiting for injuries to heal. It was rare that Akatsuki could keep a medic at the base unless one was coerced into staying. And whenever that happened, the poor sap never lasted long. Inevitably they'd try a foolish maneuver to escape, only to doom themselves. You grabbed your things and followed him out, catching up to his limping stride easily. At least you were more awake now. "Hey, I'm not into chasing people who need help, you know. I'm only doing this because I'm under orders."

"..."

You tried another tactic. "If I'm under orders to heal you, then logic follows that you are _also_ under orders to _receive_ healing."

 _That_ is what stopped him, and he turned towards you. You made eye contact with him against your better judgment, but his irides were as obsidian as usual. Thankfully. After he proved to you that genjutsu wasn't something you need make a habit of, you knew to be much more cautious around him. But _not_ making eye contact in a civil conversation is disrespectful, and this man in front of you is a living legend. Respect is certainly called for.

"Very well. This way." He turned and followed the wall down a ways. One left hand turn and nine doors later, you were both in a plain room that housed several groups of stacked wooden crates and a table. You glanced around the room. There were no free crates to use as seating. You'd have to make do. "Remove that cloak and sit on the table, if you would." He did as he was asked. His injured arm turned out to be a set of five parallel claw marks, and the fabric of his clothing had been glued to it by the amount of blood. You glanced down at the wound on his leg, which was a burn. The arm was much worse, so you started cleaning the slash marks first. "I take it that you still don't want to say what made these?"

"Correct."

"Ah." You said no more and erred on the side of caution, disinfecting the cuts before healing them. One would suppose that is redundant, but if the Mystic Hand Jutsu was a cure-all, then _every_ ninja would be taught how to use it early on in academy lessons. Alas, as there is no panacea in this world, that is not the case. Some normal medical know-how is required even for ninja medics, with all their miraculous techniques. "I'm not a doctor, but I hope your shots are up to date. I'd hate to see an Uchiha with rabies." Considering rabies comes from bites and not claws it was meant to be a joke; but he didn't laugh. You glanced up at him then continued healing his arm, almost embarrassed at that. The rest of the time you spent working in silence, since Itachi wasn't feeling talkative today. He's not as introverted as people claim you realized, but he did have moments like these where there was nothing for him to say. Or maybe when he's in pain, he doesn't make a sound.

Now done with the arm, you knelt down to attend to his second wound. The whole time you kept a straight face, based on what you were roughly eye-level with. There was somebody in your past who taught you how to keep neutral. How to hide your feelings. It was a wonderful skill to have in the ninja world; and right now more than ever you wished you remembered the man's name who told you the key to successfully hiding your thoughts and intentions from prying eyes. Itachi had been watching you while you worked. Especially when you were kneeling on the ground in front of him, extremely close. Your face wasn't turned in his direction, and he could barely see the glow of your hands from his angle. This could become an embarrassing situation. Luckily, it did not. You completed your task and stood up. "There. Done. Is that all or was there something else?"

"No. That was all." He answered. You nodded and left, not waiting for a thank you. No one else had expressed gratitude. Why would Itachi? It's all being done under orders. There's nothing to thank. So you returned to the living area to see how your other two patients were faring. On the way there, you crossed paths with Deidara who grinned lopsidedly at you. "Hi there. How'd it go?"

"Fine. Why?"

"Itachi can be a pain in the ass. The other medic we had for awhile had trouble with him, hm."

"Oh yeah? It was a matter of reasoning with him."

Dei inclined his eyebrows. "What'd you say?"

You lifted a shoulder. "Said that I'm under orders so he is too. Makes sense right?"

"I suppose so, hm."

"Are Kisame and Tobi still in the room? I want to check on them." 

Deidara shrugged. "I don't know, wasn't paying attention." He gave a sly grin. "You could always check up on me instead. I'm one of your patients too, hm."

You weren't sure if he was joking, making a pass at you, or both. On the topic of men, you weren't all that experienced. Studies, work and missions always took precedence over socializing. "Are you ill?"

"Oh yeah, I'm not well at all! I think I'll go to my studio and hope my condition improves. I may need to call a medic if I don't feel any better, hm." He made it sound lighthearted and silly, but you wondered if there was an ulterior motive. Like a booty call. You briefly lifted a shoulder and spun on your heel, continuing towards the living room. "If I set up clinic hours, you'll be one of the first to know." You heard his exasperated sigh while walking away, but smiled to yourself in spite of it. Blondie is attractive, sure. But a few more lame advances like that, and you'd have to establish a, 'I-don't-sleep-with-men-I-just-reanimated-a-week-ago' rule. The artist in question also headed off in a separate direction, towards aforementioned studio. He wondered exactly how much you remembered about that day, when you asked him if he was an angel. He knew you were out of it then, but it adhered to the back of his mind nevertheless. Deidara is _no_ angel. No one within these walls was. Except perhaps Konan. Quasi-literally. But if nothing else, if that illusion lived within your mind, perhaps he could take advantage of it one night or another.  
You stepped into the living room and Tobi popped up, tilting his masked face. "Is everything okay, Saiya-chan?"

You offered a half-hearted grin. “Itachi doesn’t like being touched I guess, but I reasoned with him. At least he isn’t spattering blood everywhere now.”

"I wasn't sure you were coming back." Konan put it, a small smile teasing the corners of her mouth. "Itachi could make a mule back up." She hadn't left to go see to her usual business. You were a trifle curious as to why she hung around, but paid no mind to it. “The vote of unwavering confidence is greatly appreciated.” You drawled, and then went to check on Kisame first since he had been the most injured. The poison you used has its side effects which echo differently with various people, and it'd be wise to make sure he wasn't exhibiting any of these. "How're you feeling?" You asked him, taking his wrist and checking the pulse. "I'm good now." He answered. You held up a finger in front of his white shark's eyes, requesting that he follow it; moving it from side to side then up and down. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"One."

"Bullshit."

He didn't respond, and you sighed. "Alright, be that way. I'm not going to push it." If he wanted to be a big tough man, then sure. You had some herbs that would cure the last of his symptoms, but Kisame knew himself best and if he felt he could deal without, then so be it. But you were pretty sure he was seeing more than one finger, and it was probably not the only thing bothering him. You went over to Tobi and made sure he was alright, which he was. Since he had nothing to hide (ironically), Tobi was willing to fully cooperate with your minor inquiries. When he checked out fine, you sat down for a moment to re-roll a bunch of gauze that was hanging out of the med pack you've been carrying around. Sasori, now alone at the back of the room, watched. His found himself thinking again on his final moments and then the stretch of 'existence' after, where he was a soul freed from its shell. 

A truer sentiment never was considered. Now back in the flesh, Sasori realized he turned himself into a husk so prematurely, that it felt...well...the same. As a bodiless spirit, it was less as though he'd died and more as though his hands had been tied behind his back and his voice robbed from his very throat. Sasori moved through the world without the means to interact with it; disconnected yet lingering, allowed only the torture that is observing life as it goes on. He wondered if his grandmother, Chiyo, suffered the same fate, or if there was a beyond as the religious zealots say. He didn't see any other ghosts. Maybe that was another aspect of limbo. That spirits chained to this Earth cannot perceive one another, to commiserate in their pathetic existence. He distantly hoped that Granny Chiyo went somewhere...nicer. Her last acts were selfless. Yes, surely if anyone deserved a better afterlife, it's her. The old woman brought the young Kazekage back from the verge of whatever awaited him in the beyond. She did this with her life energy. The old hag had wanted to use that same life energy of hers to bring Sasori back, but now that he thought of it she mentioned distinctly that she realized that dream was unattainable. And that’s why she sacrificed herself in the end, to give the peoples of the Hidden Sand back their leader.

Although, was Granny Chiyo’s dream really dead? Here you were…a medic ninja from the Grass, a person whom…of all people…would be one of the least likely to of known Chiyo personally, since she held a fairly bright hatred for befriending other countries. How could you have acquired her incredible life-saving technique? And not only did you acquire it, but also expanded upon it in such a short time. _And_ you’re still alive!

No. As Sasori had reasonably surmised aloud the first time (while witnessing Chiyo healing Sakura’s sword wound), it should be impossible to use one’s own life energy. This was pure irony. Even in death, Granny Chiyo’s wish persisted on in the form of another person. Her technique, or one much like it, gave a puppet back his life. 

_’No. Not just my life. My body, too.’_ Sasori told himself.

“…OI! Sasori, my man!” Deidara’s voice awoke the puppet master from his reverie. His brown eyes narrowed at the blond in annoyance. “What?”

“You’ve been completely out of it for ten minutes, un.” The blond artist chose to turn back from his studio to the living room. He remembered a few points he neglected to make in their previous debate, but finding Sasori like this was an oddity. 

“Sasori?” It was you who had spoken this time.

He turned, brow lightly furrowed.

“Are you well?”

Sasori nodded stiffly and got up. “I have some things I want to ask you.”

You were slightly suspicious about the way he said it, but decided to try and give him the benefit of the doubt. Even if he’d threatened you before, it wasn’t too bad. There was no need to overreact to that. It was just a threat, and threats don’t always get carried out. Besides. If you manage not to exceed your purpose here, then Sasori won’t be able to carry out his promise. Whatever that was; what he told you translated three different ways in your head. Either he’d plain kill you, turn you into a puppet, or…make you his bitch, for lack of a better description. The last part slid a chill over your spine. Occasionally, his words cropped up in your thoughts, mostly whenever you saw him or somebody mentioned his name. Maybe it had to do with the visuals associated with it. Or how he'd invaded your personal space and molested you. The more you noticed about the way he acted, the more you figured he was recovering from ‘emotionless puppet mode’, but his body is there and is slowly reminding him of what it’s like to feel. This was probably a large shock to him….to go from human, to ‘living’ puppet, to death, then back to human again.  
Sasori moved out into the hallway (which was deserted), and you followed him, medic bag in hand. Your apprehension grew with each step. Why did that one little incident with him keep boiling back to the surface, where your mind’s eye could witness it over and over?

Deidara frowned after both of you. Something told him that when you asked if Sasori was alright, a talk isn't what you had in mind. But Sasori, as usual, took it a different way. For that matter, why would you deal with him alone? Sasori is a hard person to handle for most people. It’s part of what made him such an excellent addition to the Akatsuki.

“I wonder what they’ll talk about?” Konan asked aloud, making Deidara seem even more thoughtful. “I wonder too.” He concurred.

“I hope he doesn’t try to pull a fast one on her.” Konan grumbled.

Deidara gave her a smug smile. “She's sharp. Have some faith in her, hn.”

“But this is Sasori we’re talking about, Deidara."

“Are you her mother?” He asked pointedly. Konan was caught a bit off-guard by this. “Excuse me?"

“You seem overly concerned, un.”

Konan hung her head a little. “It’s like this Deidara: she’s the new person around here. She knows nothing."

The blond raised an eyebrow. “So?”

Konan shook her head, and arose from her seat, now leaving. "Never mind. Forget I said anything." She was level headed on the surface, but inside she was unusually worried. It'd be nice to have another woman around here if you could survive. A new friend. Pein was so hung up on taking care of work and missions involving the Akatsuki that when _she_ wasn’t busy, he _was_. They divided the work load so more could be accomplished. He had become more and more antisocial, even towards her…his childhood friend. Konan had become less outgoing over the duration of their turmoil-riddled past. After all their friends died, it was lonely, and meeting somebody completely new made her realize how the silence their friends left behind rang in her ears.

He never mentioned it, but Konan wondered if Pein felt the same way in their absence.

 

_With You…_

The two of you walked in silence for some time before you decided to break the ice. “Are you going to talk to me or just waste my time?” 

Well. No one said you were _good_ at it. 

Sasori’s eyes flashed towards your own. He seemed annoyed. You’d disturbed the course of his carefully planned train of thought. You weren’t even looking at him though; you were staring ahead, trying to avoid his gaze and thus, avoid any mention in your own mind of what he did to you before. For some reason, your collar bone gave a minute twinge of pain at the thought of it. If only you could let it go.

“It should be impossible for someone to restore life to the dead.” He stated bluntly.

“And?”

“Did you know a woman named Chiyo, from the Sand?”

“I never spoke with her. But I was around to see her bring the Kazekage back to life. From a distance, of course. It would've been senseless to get involved with that situation.” You answered, quirking an eyebrow. “What’s it to you?”

“She was my grandmother.”

“Congratulations?” You mumbled uncertainly and rudely, stuffing your hands into your pockets as you said so. Your med pack was tucked under an arm. “She was a hell of a lot smarter than she was given credit for. After all, she came up with that brilliant technique. It’s rare enough for one to be able to control their chakra very well, but for a person to so much as scratch the surface of their own life energy…that’s a big deal. And not only did she tap that energy, she figured out how to transfer it to another person.”

The red head didn’t seem bothered by your opinionated mouth. “I wondered if you learned it from her.”

“I don’t think she’d be pleased that I drew from her technique and then changed it drastically.” You sighed. “But no. She didn't teach me. I suppose you could say that I simply use my head, unlike most people.” You smirked lazily. “I guess my photographic memory has something to do with it.”

Ah, that explained it. If you could remember things exactly as you saw them the first time, then you’d definitely be able to remember seeing a series of handseals for instance. “I watched what she did, and how she did it. Don’t get me wrong…it was hard to do on my own without any help. From what I understand she worked on that technique along with other people. All to see if they could bring life to puppets, I think. Not sure. Ironic when you think about it.”

“That’s exactly what I thought.” Sasori said. “You see, she told me that she developed that technique for me. But in the end she knew it was in vain.”

“Not in vain.” You objected. “The technique was still used to spare a life.”

“But it wasn’t originally intended for the Kazekage.” He pointed out a little sharply.

“Are you bitter about it?” You inquired, mildly annoyed, and turned your head towards him. He wasn’t looking back at you though. Sasori's expression was thoughtful. “No. I was never dead to begin with. Even if I were, it would change nothing for me.” A lie to himself. He now knew how dead he had been the moment he became his own puppet. It just didn't feel that way until recently, when his eyes were pried open.

“ ‘Wouldn’t change anything’?” You were incredulous. “Not to split hairs Sasori, but you’d have a pulse. You’d have nerve endings. It would change a lot of things…like it has for you now! She wanted to _save_ you, Sasori.”

“If she wanted to save me…” He said, choosing his words with slow care, “…she could have given that life to my parents.”

You fell utterly silent and halted your pace. Sasori walked a few steps further before stopping and turning to look at you. You were eyeing the ground, unsure of what to say to that. What _can_ you say?

“When you were younger, right?” You asked at long last.

He nodded once.

“Why are we having this conversation Sasori?”

“Conversations have an annoying habit of taking a turn for the worst.” He responded solemnly.

“I was told that you were mostly silent, except to reprimand people for making you wait.”

“Then you must know how much I hate to be left waiting.” He grunted a little nastily. Your head snapped upwards, eyes meeting his. “That’s why isn’t it? You hate waiting because of your childhood.”

“Don’t analyze me, woman.” 

“I don't have to, Sasori. I’ve learned enough. Actually, I learned everything but what I wanted to hear from you.”

“And what is that?” He asked a little testily. You seemed to be trying his patience without actively trying to do so. At least the topic shifted from the uncomfortable one of his past. 

“My next mission is to eliminate Orochimaru and retrieve his ring. It’s the last mission I must accomplish before Leader will admit me into the group.”

Sasori offered a sardonic smile. “And you'd like me to tell you about him, wouldn't you.”

“You got it.” You smirked back. It faded a little when he started laughing and turned his back on you. He started walking down the hallway then paused, a hand on his forehead, his other hand planted on his hip.

“What the hell is so funny?” You demanded.

“You’re a medic. There is _no way in hell_ that you can stand up against him alone.”

“And you _can_ , oh Puppet Master?” You growled nastily at his back. "I'll have you know that I've run into him before, more than once, and I'm still here to tell the tale."

"I sincerely doubt that." 

"Sasori, I stand to gain nothing from lying about it. I bumped into him after I left the Grass, and--"

“--Orochimaru was my partner here before he left.” Sasori interrupted, swiping aside all the rest that was said. Your eyes widened. That explained why you had to get a ring from Orochimaru. And here you wondered if he kept it as a trophy from a kill, which, admittedly, was the less likely scenario. Though it was hard for you to imagine him in Akatsuki black and red. “So you’ve trained with that snake bastard enough to know what he's capable of?” You asked. You tried to calm your nerves, which were easier to rouse at the moment. “And vice-versa, right?”

“That is what you would think.” Sasori said, grinning a little wider. “But we’ve changed.” Not all of his smiles were kind. Truth be told, none of them were.

“How can you speak for him?”

“I know how he is and I had a spy _working_ under Orochimaru.” His tone was dusted with amusement. “Though Zetsu told me not long ago that my spy betrayed me after my death.”

“Zetsu is a sneaky one, I’ll give him that much." You admitted. "I had a hard time finding him back when he, Itachi and Kisame came after me. It appears that he won’t be found if he doesn’t want to be found.”

“True.” Sasori admitted. “Orochimaru is much worse than him though. He’s far older than I, and maintains Sannin status. This is a suicide mission for you.”

“Don’t count me out yet, Sasori.” You said, drawing level and looking at him. “Yes I’m a medic, but I’d be a fool not to have some tricks of my own. I can fight too.”

“Using poison and attacking pressure points, yes?” He scoffed. “Such things don’t work on Orochimaru like they do other people, fool.”

“Then help me why don’t you!” You fumed loudly. You were losing your temper. In no way was Sasori making this easy, as if asking for guidance isn't painful enough.

“…”

“You owe me your life, dammit!” 

“…” He was quietly considering it. You _did_ have a point. And lets face it: merely bringing you to Deidara’s room back then wasn’t going to cover the cost. He knew there would be something else. That’s how it is. There's always a catch.

“Come on, even if you just tell me how to deal with him, I’ll be happy.” You didn’t really like pulling the ‘you owe me one’ card on people. It was just…in a word…pathetic. “And besides that, don’t you want to get him back for turning your subordinate against you, Sasori? I thought you were more vengeful than this!”

He watched you quietly for a long minute. You thought he was going to leave, but shockingly, he elected to offer a grain of wisdom after all. “Don’t let him get close to you.” 

“And?” You wanted to grill him for as much info as possible, but one blink and he was gone. For fuck’s sake! Some 'grain of wisdom' _that_ was.

Oh well. You couldn’t expect him to deal with you for too long. You were holding him up from doing whatever he had to do, even if he had been the one to initiate the conversation. You had made him wait a little too long already. Now was when you learned that you’d need to be careful what you say to him from now on.

You went to the kitchen since you realized how hungry you were and made something small to eat. No one else was in here so you had a quiet meal and left the room. You decided to go back to your quarters and once you arrived at it, you found Konan knocking on your door.

“Konan?” 

She turned around to look at you and lowered her black sleeved arm to her side. “Oh, Saiya. I came to see if you’re okay.”

You couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’m a big girl you know.”

“Yes; but that's not all."

“What else then?”

She smiled. “The Leader wants to evaluate your skills, in addition to Sasori’s, Hidan’s, Kakuzu’s and Deidara’s. To see how you all are doing. Mainly it is to make sure no one’s gotten worse; since they died. We can’t afford to get sloppy after all.”

“And he wants to see what I can do other than medicine, then?” You asked after a minute, and unlocked the door to your room.

“That’s the gist of it.”

“Okay. Now?”

“Yes. “ 

You groaned and darted inside to put the med pack down, then came back out and locked the door. “Alright. But I have to admit, that's shallow reasoning. If you've been dead, _of course_ you'll lose your touch.” If this was any indication to the future, you’d have a hard time getting any peace and quiet indeed. Person after person kept taking up your time.

Konan ignored that. “Follow me.” She said, and turned to walk in a new direction.

“You're saying that a lot lately. I distinctly recall you telling me I could figure this place out on my own.” You murmured, reaching up and pulling the black hood of your shirt up over your head, then crossed your arms and shivered slightly. It was a little cool in the hall. Your eyes flickered to different shades of purple as you passed in and out of pools of light and shadow in Konan’s wake.

Konan glanced over her shoulder at you but only chuckled at your comment. She continued walking, her mind turning over one fact: there was another purpose to this so-called ‘evaluation’. Pein had not forgotten that medics aren’t the best in combat. However that didn’t mean all medics were like that. Witness Tsunade and Haruno Sakura. They were far from helpless in battle. But he had to see this for himself. He was personally invested in your success in a way you didn't understand. If you couldn’t handle yourself in a fight against one of your comrades here, then you certainly would flounder against that rotten snake bastard. This would determine whether or not someone would be sent with you on your so-called ‘suicide mission’.

Both of you arrived at the room where this evaluation would take place; which was really just a huge training room half-pitched into darkness. Shortly after the two of you entered the room, Sasori and Deidara came in as well. The others were already there…Leader too, though he wasn’t visible since he was hidden in darkness, per usual.

You glanced around at everyone else warily. None of them seemed at all troubled about this exercise. Perhaps you were the only one feeling apprehensive about it, which wouldn’t be all too surprising. They’ve probably been through something like this several times before. The Akatsuki has to stay sharp. They’d be constantly testing themselves, sharpening themselves, and training on problem areas.

“How’s it going this time?” Kakuzu inquired without turning his head towards anyone in particular. His eyes roamed from figure to figure instead.

“Battle Royale.” Konan said. Apparently the Leader already spoke with her about this. “Itachi, Kisame, Zetsu, Tobi…you don’t have to participate if you don’t want to. But feel free to jump in at any time.”

“Anything else, un?” Deidara asked.

“Uhhhh…” Konan rubbed the back of her head with a sleeve, embarrassed that she couldn’t remember the rest. She turned to Pein’s shadowy form and tilted her head a little. Pein sighed audibly and crossed his arms.

“All I ask is that none of you kill each other. Either knock your opponent out or disable them in some other way. This fight will end in a half hour if it is not finished by then.” He explained, tone flat and devoid of emotion.

Konan stepped back onto the sidelines and smirked. “Begin!” She called. 

During the explanations you’d been sizing everyone else up, weighing your options. Once Konan signaled the beginning of the fight, you noted the various things the others did. For instance, Deidara’s hands dove into the bags of clay at his belt. Hidan took his triple-bladed scythe from his back (which he had repaired not even a day ago) and considered the others, choosing an opponent. 

Kakuzu blurred out of sight though, and Sasori…apparently…

…had picked _you_.

The sound of senbon parting the air caught your attention, and on reflex alone you dodged them by leaping up and forward. They pinged off the wall that had been behind you.

Your body was airborne, but you were moving too fast for Sasori to register where you were. Your purple eyes darted over his form, mind running over all your knowledge of the body’s weak points. With that black robe it made your life slightly more difficult. Good thing you knew what he looked like under there.

Your feet hit the ground, stinging shock absorbing upwards painfully into your tendons and ankles. This floor was very hard, harder than you were accustomed to. Normally you trained in the forest or in the fields that the Hidden Grass was known for.

Right as you were landing, Sasori sent another two fistfuls of poisoned senbon at you, but you swung to the side and moved past Deidara and Kakuzu, whom were battling furiously. Hidan, also involved in their skirmish, almost got a sample of Deidara’s blood…but thankfully Deidara avoided him.

A scroll slid out of Sasori’s sleeve, and with a snap of the wrist he sent it flying open. A chattering human puppet sailed out of a symbol upon the paper, and Sasori hastened to attach chakra strings to it. It sent three kunai attached to ropes at you, but you deflected them with the wakizashi you carried at your side. In three quick movements, the kunai bounced away harmlessly. Sasori’s puppet retracted them in the blink of an eye. He twitched his index finger and the puppet’s mouth, as well as a few flesh-colored panels on it popped open…a rain of senbon was sent at you from these openings. They had a purplish sheen in the dimly lit room. Apparently all of his weapons (or the majority of them) were poisoned. You'd be best served not allowing a single scratch.

From behind, you heard Hidan’s scythe whistling through the air as he swung it around to try and probably chop Deidara in half. You were in its path. A smirk curled your mouth. It would be easy to handle this situation in style.

Your body surged forwards and as you ran; you twisted nimbly under and around the clouds of needles, brought the wakizashi to bear, and ripped into an unsuspecting Hidan. He let out a cry, eyes wide in shock and pain, not that he didn’t enjoy the latter. He lost focus in that moment and the fist locked around the chain tail of his scythe was jerked to the side. The tri-blades would have rent Sasori's puppet in half if he didn't move quick enough and pull it back. A gash was torn in its front, but was otherwise spared. You sprang away from Hidan before he regained his senses and retaliated.

Pein narrowed his ringed grey eyes. That was quite a maneuver…you’d need to have perfect control over your body to pull something off like that. The volleys of senbon were so close together, and not only that, but Hidan could’ve hewn you in half. There was absolutely no margin for error. And you seemed quite confident that you could pull it off. Like you knew for a fact that you would emerge from that encounter unscathed…even if it looked like you’d either be turned into a poisoned pincushion, or lopped neatly into two halves, or both. That was a little trick that about 95% of the shinobi population wouldn’t be able to handle. 

Sasori’s brown eyes widened a little, and he moved his puppet at just the right time to intercept you when you bounded away from Hidan and ricocheted in his direction. You jumped away at the last second with a scowl. Dammit. You might have excellent reflexes, but so did he!

Though now you had an unlikely ally. Hidan turned on Sasori, hefting his triple bladed scythe and swinging it against the puppet once more, with purpose. Sasori moved the thing again, but unfortunately the puppet lost a leg and now had a long gash torn open in its side also, revealing the metallic and wooden workings within it.

With a guttural snarl of impatience, Hidan took another swing at the puppet and shaved off another inch of wood and metal, barely missing its head this time but managing to take off its right arm as well. 

You held back and scanned for an opening, dodging away if an attack slipped in your direction. But there was nothing, not right now. Besides, you realized something. Sasori wasn’t a very good opponent for you anyway. You didn’t have raw power on your side, nor did you have a favorite, powerful blade in your hands like Hidan did. You’d have to try and get around the puppet and attack Sasori himself. Unfortunately that, as you discovered, was easier said than done. You prided yourself on your speed. That is what kept you unscathed as a medic; your ability to think quickly on your feet, in addition to your reflexes and the blinding speed you’d worked for. The downside was that all you could really do was poison people, knock them out…or if you’re lucky, and you hit the right thing, they’d just die instead. 

This was going to have to change in a big way.

“Hey Saiya!” Konan yelled, and you glanced out the corner of your eye. But what you saw was…Konan, standing there with her hands in the sign of concentration, while what looked like hundreds of little paper shuriken were floating around her in the air. You tensed. “Heeere we go…FUCK!” You dodged the second the hundreds of paper shuriken came whizzing towards you, making a noise altogether much like fabric tethered to a line, snapping in a strong wind.

Though you were laughing more than anything. “Ohhh no! I’m gonna get a papercut!” 

This wasn't a real fight to her, but she kept her expression neutral. “Don’t start that with me!” And she directed the course of the shuriken so they followed you. You could see now that they wouldn’t go straight and hit a wall like your average blades do. Automatically, because of this, you assumed the worst: there must be even more than that to these things. Why use them unless they could do more than give nasty paper cuts? Unless her aim was to mock you.

“Can’t run from me forever Saiya!” Konan teased loudly, but you doubled back; leaping up and over the cluster of shuriken and went straight at her. She was astounded. Why would any self-respecting shinobi pull such an obvious attack on a foe that’s actually LOOKING at them?

Instead of worrying too much about it, she directed the shuriken back at you. You continued to avoid them. This was bad. Really bad.

On the sidelines, in the dark, Pain enacted a complex set of handseals and ended with the sign of concentration. While you managed to dart around another cloud of origami shuriken, you nearly faltered. Deep within, it felt as if a door had been unlocked. Images flickered across your mind so rapidly you thought you'd black out. Rolling fields. Earth. Dense, ancient forests. Wind. Blades in hand. Fire. Floundering in a river. Water. A powerful figure with long hair in your past, not the sensei you remembered, showing you how to manipulate chakra into different elements.  
You knuckles itched, and you chanced a look down, a paper blade slicing your cheek when you did. It stung, and hot blood began to wash down to your neck in a thickening line. But it didn't matter anymore. Not after seeing strange runes appear on your hands, flaring to life for a moment before fading away. Words in a distantly familiar voice rose to the surface, like bubbles. When they get to the top, they pop and disappear. 

_'...It is done. These symbols are unique to you, Saiya. No one else in the world has them.'_

_'What're they for, sensei?'_

_'To help you survive. With these, you aren't limited like other shinobi to a pair of elements.'_

_'But sensei, my academy sensei told me that I can't learn elemental ninjutsu. He said me chakra doesn't allow it!'_

_'They only told you this because they lacked the means you required. With this, you can use elemental ninjutsu. And_ so _much more.'_

It was very trying, to avoid a full-on assault and allow the words to play out in your mind. You were sporting many cuts and a scattering of bruises, and were lucky that's _all_ you had. This is what running away bought you. But the time for running was over. Now, if you could use it right, you had a weapon. You put on another burst of speed and flipped, twisted, landed facing Konan. She refigured the formation of her origami and sent them flying at you as a huge paper spear. You concentrated on wanting to burn that origami lance to cinders before it got too close, and tried to recall the handseals you were taught, and hurried to work on them in the proper order. Nearby, Deidara was releasing a set of earthen falcons, letting them fly at his adversary. One hand went into the form of concentration. His outcry was lost in the ensuing explosion, at the same time, a stream of fire ignited across the path of Konan's origami spear. The one red symbol on your middle finger flared brighter, and her little papers all caught fire and crumbled, blackened, to the ground, dissolved from their shape.

Your amethyst orbs were wide and alight with the reflection of flame and amazement. This technique…it was hard to remember, but it was there, it was _real_ , and it saved your life. But this couldn't be all. Forgetting something of this magnitude was horrific, but in that moment, it felt like someone merely lifted the lid off these memories. That it was _meant_ to be forgotten, and you still had so much to remember, but it was all so far away. And right now wasn't the time. Still. Who would have purposefully sealed away years of training? This enigmatic 'other' sensei? 

Pein found silent laughter broiling in his throat at your perplexity that you pulled it off. Konan’s paper wasn’t your ordinary kind, it is _much_ tougher. It's harder to destroy, and with a razor's edge; sharp enough to kill while being light and quick. Eventually you would have no choice but to stop running and face her. Konan can prove to be an overwhelming enemy. She has the capacity to be everywhere at once.

“Saiya?” Konan called, leaping backwards and already starting on another wave of paper blades. “Don’t stall. There’s no time for that.”

It was kind of her to try and keep you motivated, its more than she would do for a serious opponent. Stalling was appealing, at least until you got a grip, but you no longer needed to play for time. Though it was impossible to shake the notion that she was barely toying with you. In a whirl of origami, Konan was gone, dispersed across the room faster than you could track. You looked around in alarm and then barely avoided a volley of white kunai and stars. A few skimmed across your arms and back, shredding the fabric, leaving thin lacerations that began to bead up with crimson. Cussing softly, you were off running again, looking for Konan and occasionally setting flying paper objects on fire with a pass of the hand. A tingling heat rested at your fingertips. Whenever this feeling died down, you discovered that you couldn’t flick your hand across the path of the paper items and make them simultaneously combust. 

What the fuck was up with that? Were you doing something wrong?

“Katsu!” Deidara yelled, blowing up a spider-like bomb on Hidan’s wrist, attempting to blast it off his body, but to no avail. Deidara was having issues of his own anyway; Kakuzu left some pretty bad wounds on him whenever he got the chance, but didn't manage to knock the artist out yet. His blond hair was stained and clumped together with thickening clots of blood. Right now, Kakuzu was also fighting Sasori; who was winning. Both of them were trying to conceal the fact that they were running out of steam. It might be shameful, but neither of them were up to snuff. Kakuzu had yet to harvest some worthwhile hearts, and Sasori's puppets were lacking.

On the other side of the vast room, Konan was getting irritated with you. She could tell you were trying to figure out this rediscovered ability of yours on the fly, but while fighting for your life, your attentions were split. In a real situation such behavior would get you killed. 

Fifteen minutes had elapsed.

“Come on! Is that all you've got?" Konan mock-teased loudly where she was now hovering in midair, paper wings outstretched. 

“Do you want your ass kicked that badly!?” You shouted up at her, agitated.

“I don't think you can!"

You offered a rude gesture before burning more of her paper weapons. 

She flipped you off.

“Don't flash your IQ in public!" You sneered loudly, now deciding to switch it up. Right now you were trying to keep the status quo while attempting to figure out how to unlock the other elements. You didn’t have time to stare and confirm your suspicions, but the little images under your knuckles each represented an element, at least on one hand. The other sigils represented other things entirely.

As of right now, fire was barely keeping her at bay. Letting Konan press the attack would win the day for her sooner or later, but what if you could use that to your advantage? Paper becomes soggy and easily torn when soaked, but her origami is made out of a material worlds apart from what we write on everyday. It is infused with chakra. While you had been thinking, you were still trying to keep her away and dodging her attacks whenever she got close enough to you. This fight wasn’t going anywhere. Not yet anyway. But you were beginning to wear out, being disused to fights of this magnitude. On past missions, things seldom got to the point where you would actually have to do something other than heal people. In the cases where you did have to fight, it hardly went further than some fancy maneuvers, pressure points, poison and throwing needles.

But how do you do it? How do you manipulate the water element?

A quick glance around told you that no one else was giving up yet either. None of the others had been knocked out or wounded grievously. Damn, they were all so good! Even Sasori…whom, you assumed, was still getting used to his living body. Right now he was experiencing the effects of fatigue. He’d need to build up his endurance.

Twenty minutes had elapsed.

Konan kept throwing more stars, occasionally transforming them into other shapes. But no matter what configuration she used, and no matter what manner in which she threw them at you, it didn’t make a difference. Now you began to eye her wings. You’d need to get a hold of her but she wouldn’t let you close enough. So all you could do is distract her, right?

Konan herself was thinking that she couldn’t fail. Especially not in front of Pein. She would never be able to look him in the eye for awhile if she did. She took you on because no one was going to pressure you the way she could, and it felt impossible to lose anyhow. But she was wrong. For a medic you were far tougher than you looked. Your size, reflexes, and raw speed kept you alive this long, and every so often you'd heal up the worse cuts she inflicted while running. 

She smiled secretively to herself and continued the onslaught. There's a lot of potential here. That's why he chose you all those years ago. Most people would be dead by now, despite that she wasn't taking the match seriously. As she watched, you grumbled and stopped using your fire technique. The tingling vanished from your fingertips, and the active Fire Sigil dulled down to nothing. Now it was back down to dodging and occasionally slicing origami apart with your wakizashi whenever a paper blade got too close.

_’Come on. Water. Waaater…come on, how do I get it to work!?’_

You focused on as many images of water as you could think of off the top of your head. Waterfall, tidal waves, sea, ocean, river, rain, geyser. 

You felt a cool, rippling sensation run over the back of your hand, and you glanced at it while avoiding a phalanx of paper birds with small, sword-like beaks. 

The Water Sigil located below your ring finger had begun to glow a clear, bright cerulean. Your hand felt like you’d immersed it in a brook. 

_’Great. Now what?’_ You thought to yourself. You have water. But what do you do with it?! How the hell do you configure it? Unfortunately, it wasn't half as easy as one might hope. Every time the fire died out on your fingertips, you began to appreciate how hard it was to ignite again, as if your very chakra refused to cooperate. Way back when; you had been placed in the same classes as the other students. It was found out early on that your chakra refused to manifest as a particular element, and back then, being unable to perform on the same level as your peers quickly became a horror show. Kids are cruel to one another. When it was proven that you were unable to carry out the requested exercises; you were asked to sit out on the sidelines since there was nothing for it. It wasn't long before you got permission to go to the library during these sessions instead, to be productive, which is where you first learned anything about medical ninjutsu. 

After a great deal of trial and error, you proved your medical aptitude to that very same class of kids by healing a burn wound on a rather overzealous classmate who was trying to outdo his peers with a fire jutsu. When returning to class from the library that day, you saw the injured boy on the sidelines, went to him, and awkwardly healed him. It was far from a perfect job, but he wasn't hurting anymore. From then on, you were sent to take some tests and entered the medical program. That same boy told you that it was as if you were, 'trading study class for advanced genjutsu'. He was right about one thing. The medic shinobi program was exponentially harder. Inclination towards a certain element manifests naturally, whereas medical ninjutsu does not. But for you, it was the only option unless you wanted to fall into the family business. 

Now, once again as in childhood, this was harder than medicine for you.

Twenty-five minutes had elapsed. 

You ran the short list you came up with in your mind. …Hm. Why not try rain? Though that had its issues too. You’d have to try and make water condense enough to form clouds.

And the time couldn’t be better. Konan was getting impatient enough to form just very large paper bird that you identified as a Roc. Its stark white body was armed with huge talons and a lethal hooked beak, and broad wings that could probably act as twin airborne blades. Opening its beak in a silent cry, it sailed after you. 

In response, you placed your hands in the sign of the dragon, then focused. The water sigil glowed brighter and brighter, until your hand was nearly engulfed by a blue glow. You were concentrating on the image of water freezing up high in the sky. If you had to make a gamble, it was now or never. When you paused long enough, you were breathing hard, and you realized how tired you were from all the running. This had to end in the next five minutes, one way or another.

Lo and behold, a swathe of clouds started collecting against the entire ceiling. They doubled, tripled in volume, becoming so dark and ominous that if one turned a high light on, you wouldn’t be able to see the ceiling. Konan craned her neck to see what was happening up above, and you watched her, wishing for just a moment that you could muster a smile. She was now floating several yards below those thick, luxurious clouds, which were burdened with gallons upon gallons of water. Konan and Pein knew this scent well. They lived in the Hidden Rain, after all.

Without any indication as to whether or not this development concerned her, Konan focused on sending the origami Roc at you along with a new number of paper shuriken. She had to take you out before things got worse! But that’s where the first stroke fell.

Lightning stroke, to be exact.

While you’d thought of rain, you had remembered the massive thunder storms that roared across the Grass Country during the rainy season. You had loved watching them from the compound rooftops as a child. With the Grass Country's many plains, it was easy to see a storm racing across the distance, licking the earth with tongues of lightning.

So because of that memory, the golden Lightning symbol below your index finger flared up and with a mighty deep rumble, thunder rippled throughout the weather formed in the large room. 

This alarmed the others. Especially when a thick arm of electricity impaled the white bird that was already becoming a little limp due to the almost suffocating humidity. Konan's origami may not be your average stuff, but neither was this rain. It was made by chakra, and as such, was thoroughly suffused with it. Paper becomes soggy and fragile when wet.

The Roc caught fire and the enormous bird crumbled to the ground. True to form, lightning vanishes the moment it appears, and another resonating ‘boom’ later, the clouds unloaded their burden of water down onto everyone like a cloudburst. Konan wasn't positive you could pull it off, but once the thunder started growling she landed. It was a safe bet to do so. Now thoroughly soaked down to the bone, she was glad she did.

Deidara scowled. When clay is wet, it is still easily molded, but it’d be a pain in the ass to handle now. Sasori also looked annoyed, since the poison in his puppets was beginning to wash away. Hidan just about threw his hands up. “What the fucking hell?! REALLY?!” He bellowed, but his voice was half lost under the hammering of the cloudburst and deafening roar of thunder. Sheet lightning flickered on and off.

Kisame, on the sidelines with the others was enjoying this very much, and was laughing. Pein kept his expression neutral, but Zetsu was a bit grim, but otherwise didn’t mind so much. Tobi was grinning a mile wide under his mask, and Itachi made no indication to whether or not he was fazed. Wasn’t that a little over the top?

Then the rain stemmed down to a light mist. Everyone was drenched. Konan was still standing but her origami skin was neutralized so her body was normal again, and her wings were gone. All her paper weapons, including the partially burnt Roc, were scattered on the ground, all so soaking wet that they were just masses of graying pith. Your eyes widened some at the sight of just _how much_ origami was littered across the floor. You’d been thinking so hard on making that storm, that you didn’t notice how many of them there were. They surrounded you in a circle, about a thousand of them on the floor.

You stopped the flow of chakra to the Water Sigil and both the Lightning and Water ones faded to a faint glow. Though you still didn’t know how you activated the former.

Everybody's gaze was now on Pein, who nodded once. “Thirty minutes have elapsed. Everyone may leave now.”

You turned to leave in time to notice Konan going over to Pein to speak with him. You shrugged and walked out with the others. You were heading to your room.

Everyone squished off to their various destinations about the hideout.


	8. The Remaining Shards of Dignity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You embark upon your mission to hunt down and slay Orochimaru. But you aren't alone in your endeavors, and may even have some unlikely allies.

The Remaining Shards of Dignity

 

The next morning you were up extremely early, pre-making a bunch of meals to keep in the walk-in refrigerator. After that was done, you chose to make breakfast for the whole gang, as an apology for soaking them through and through the other day. Whether or not they saw it that way was their call, but either way, you made sure that the meal would be a delicious one. Besides, it helped to keep your hands busy. For that matter you hadn't convinced yourself that you were doing this because of how the fight ended. You liked to cook. It wasn’t a secret. But the while you went through the comfortingly familiar routine of food preparation, your thoughts continually veered around to things you couldn't let go. Like the conversations with Deidara and Sasori. And how helpless you'd felt during the battle royale until, in an unforeseen turn of events, somebody turned the spigot on your memory floodgate and let a little of the past trickle through.

_’Why can’t I get beyond these things?’_  
 **A question yet unanswered.**

_’I’ve murdered, maimed, tortured and slaughtered. And I’m acting like this?_  
 **Acting like this…over what?**

_’I have no room in my life to be this way.’_  
 **So drop it already!**

_**’Enough Saiya. Get a get a grip.’**_  
The table was set and loaded with dishes and bowls of luscious food. You finished setting the table up with some freshly pressed juice in a clear glass pitcher, and tried to calm down over it all. New thoughts escaped your subconscious. Thoughts of how you can’t allow people to get into your head and screw you up like this. You would need to be more distant and cautious.

_’But then you’d be a square just like the rest of them!’_  
 **’Don’t let that happen to yourself. You can be better.’**  
 _’I have to learn to let go of things first.’_  
 **’Stop fucking around and just act already!’**

Two sounds of reason reverberated in your mind. Your own thoughts, one after another, in effect…you battled with yourself. This didn't mean you had more than one personality paying rent in that noggin of yours. No, everybody has their own internal disputes.

You decided it best to leave after breakfast. Then you’d have a good start on your next mission before you could finally be considered one of the Akatsuki. There was no patience within you to simply wait and find out the verdict of last night’s trials, and you received no instructions to wait anyway. What you _needed_ to do was just get going; and if Leader wanted someone to work with you, they could have fun playing catch-up. Through your life you had witnessed that people often get nowhere by being polite, that the nice guys finish last or never. In an organization like this, such a notion could never ring truer. 

After eating and throwing your dishes uncaringly into the sink you gathered up some foodstuffs and water for the journey, then brought it all to your room and packed up additional supplies. You weren’t traveling too light, but you didn’t take anything unnecessary with you either. You had a long journey ahead of you, and had to plan carefully as you went. For one thing, it’d be hard to actually _find_ Orochimaru. As it turns out, he is paranoid of being found and would move from fortress to fortress after a span of three days or so at a time. And since there was an unknown number of these fortresses, and you had no lead to follow, you were beginning to question the ‘wisdom’ of leaving the hideout so quickly.

Self confidence waning, you pressed onwards, legs taking you at great speed from tree to tree. Your mind was away from your feet. You were musing over your dilemma far too deeply to notice what way you were going, but a good description would be, ‘foreword!’ 

 

_Back at Akatsuki HQ…_

Breakfast was eaten; every last bit of it and a bunch of shinobi and one kunoichi sat around the table, all were feeling fat now that they polished off all the food a mysterious benefactor had cooked for them. Except the mystery didn’t have much staying power; once the servants confessed that they hadn’t done it, and you were nowhere to be found, they figured out it was you. Pein was actually happy he listened and permitted the help to purchase what you requested to stock the kitchen. He couldn’t remember the last time he ate so well. But where had you gone?

Konan arose to get herself something more to drink, and was in the walk-in fridge. “Hey, she made up a bunch of bento boxes too…wow; it looks like we might be set for awhile. I guess she’s going to be gone for a bit.”

“That means she probably left to finish up her mission, un.” Deidara said, wishing he didn’t eat so much. But he ate as much as the others with the exception of Sasori, who’s stomach was easily filled. He had devoured the least of them all. And no one really cared what your manners were like at the table, though it was appreciated if you knew how to use your napkin.

“She was supposed to wait.” Pein rumbled, yet couldn’t find it in himself at the moment to be too upset with you. He had come down to the kitchen expecting to eat chicken ramen for breakfast after all. Instead he found something approaching a gourmet repast weighing the table down.

"She didn't. So now what?” Konan asked pointedly. She was still a little cross that you'd pull something so harebrained. 

“She’s going after Orochimaru. But she has to find him first. Tobi thinks Saiya-chan shouldn’t be alone, she’s just a medic!” Despite his third-person silliness, Tobi brought the gravity of the situation to the table.

“Saiya can fight but there is much left to be desired.” Sasori mused aloud. 

“Funny, she handled _you_ pretty well.” Kakuzu sneered. Sasori pissed him off sometimes, especially when he got a hold of the people that were worth a lot of money before Kakuzu could get to them. After Sasori made them puppets they were worthless.

“Then why don’t you go help her smartass?” Kisame put in, looking at Sasori with his dead shark’s eyes. “You and Deidara could go.”

Deidara slumped back into the dark depths of his cloak, but said nothing. His posture and facial expression spoke loudly enough, _‘I’m not a fucking babysitter.’_ Since Sasori was still getting used to his body and was no longer a puppet, he wasn’t as lethal as he had been before. Deidara had recovered nicely since he was the same as he’d always been…mouths in hands, so on. And he was armed to every last set of teeth with explosive clay and some choice ninja toys for those extra-bad situations. Deidara would in essence need to keep an eye on not only you, but Sasori, since he is seen as the most capable of the three at current.

“Deidara and Sasori. You both are to find Saiya and assist her in her mission.” Pein informed them coldly, and got up. “Move out immediately. You have no time to waste.” He left the kitchen, leaving everyone else in a blinking stupor. 

“Uhm, think of it this way! It’s a good warm up! Tobi thinks you both need practice!” The Masked One said, gesturing widely and pleasantly suggesting that they’re a couple of skirts without actually coming out and saying it. Deidara twitched and a hand plunged into one of the bags of clay strapped to his side, plundering around for a good-sized hunk of clay. Tobi bolted from the kitchen before Deidara got the chance to send him sky-high. But in the end of all that, Sasori and Deidara both resigned themselves a bit grudgingly to getting their shit together so they could leave and pick up your trail before it went stone-cold. 

 

_With You…_

 

Woodland fell away to become grassland, which eventually disintegrated into desert. The sun radiated murderous heat against your back and you wished you hadn’t worn dark colors today. But you reasoned that, in your own defense, you had no clue that you would wind up out here in the desert, but you had a good reason for venturing out in this particular direction. There had been signs that other people had been out this way, and while it wasn't much to go off of, it was still a lead. This area is almost entirely uninhabitable and no sane person would head out here unless there was a good reason. Admittedly, Orochimaru himself is too cautious to leave tracks. But his lackeys might be less thorough in scattering evidence of their presence. Glancing back over your shoulder, you noted that your own footprints hadn’t been dusted away yet by the wind. 

Which is when you took more active notice that the land around you was eerily still, except for the other people you currently shared the bleak vista with. Yes, there were others.

At present you were crouched just behind a stony ridge. This area was more of a canyon type area, and there was more rock than sand. So perhaps ‘desert’ wasn’t accurate and ‘badlands’ was. Down below in what looked like the old worn pathway of a stream was a cell of shinobi. They all stuck out terribly well against the drab tan and brown rocks of the dried-out riverbed, and they _would_ stick out of course because one of them wore a bright red top, another wore the green and blue of a Konoha jounin, the third wore orange and black, and the last of them wore all black but his face and bare midriff were white as death. He looked like he could _use_ some of the nasty sun that baked these barren lands.

If even your everyday civilian couldn’t spot them, it would be because they were blind in one and can’t see out of the other.

You crept after them, watching where you stepped because you didn’t dare make a single sound that would give your position away. As far as you could tell they had no idea that they were being followed, but they’d be wary of their surroundings all the same. There was no animal life to speak of so the stillness of this land was unnerving, apart from the occasional carrion bird wheeling overhead. There was no wind to carry or disperse a scent, or hide minor sounds, or dust their tracks, or cool their skin however slightly from the heat. Any relief would be greatly appreciated. 

The kid in orange took his coat off and draped it over one shoulder. The black shirt underneath would absorb more heat than his orange coat, but on the other hand it was short-sleeved and still felt a bit cooler. His necklace caught your eye; the chakra jewels strung upon it gleamed in the patches of sun they walked through. You were beginning to think of just what to do aside from follow them. Who knows what they were doing? But you had a hunch that it would be a good idea to follow this group. They weren’t headed home to Konoha that’s for sure. 

What else interested you was the matter of the road they chose. They’d be able to move faster up where you were, where there were fewer obstructions and more rolling stony hills. They were traveling in an old riverbed that was overcast in shadow in many places, but there were rock formations all throughout it. They were climbing more than walking. They probably wanted shade and cover from attack. Obviously the elements were wearing them down too, however slowly. This would presumably offer you an advantage considering how you were fresher, more alert, and not as travel-wearied. 

Though you weren’t accustomed to this climate either. It’d only be a matter of time before you got worn down by the same factors as them. Then you’d get sloppy. You’d stagger, trip over things. The sun would sap your energy faster up here. Traveling directly behind them in that riverbed crevice was sounding better and better and less foolhardy, but as it was there was absolutely no way down there without alerting them to your presence. Even if you let them move ahead a ways and tried it, they’d probably notice. They weren’t a bunch of _total_ morons. You had seen what these people are capable of, if you were correct in assuming who they are. 

It was becoming the hottest part of the day. You needed to figure something out before you ran out of water.

 

_With Sasori and Deidara…_

 

They were thankful that you didn’t bother covering any signs of the way you went. If you had, then there would be no way of knowing where you went at all. You had left no clues back at the hideout aside from this trail, and the occasional broken twigs. Now, after traveling through the forest along the path though the trees that you took, they discovered it much easier to find the way you went; the sand swept rocky vista before them was so still that they could easily follow your footprints. 

“I wish we could just fly, un.” Deidara grumbled. Sasori’s brown eyes darted towards him. The redhead seemed thoughtful.

“Judging from her footprints, she isn’t moving too fast anymore.” Surprisingly, the heat didn’t bother him at all. He was used to it. Actually it was even hotter where he used to live, in Sunakagure. Sasori grew up living in such heat. He was pretty accustomed to it. Deidara wasn’t so bad off about it himself; he came from Tsuchigakure, and it was a place that got just as much sun. It was a barren yet mountainous region in places, but also densely forested in other areas as well. Though the heat was a bit oppressive for his taste, he could easily deal with it. Besides…how long had he trekked through the desert before? When on his mission to fetch his own jinchuuriki, Deidara had to walk through a sea of sun-bleached sand. 

“I don’t think this is Suna, un.” Deidara mentioned, off-topic. 

“If it is, it isn’t an area I am familiar with.” Sasori admitted. “Saiya will be easy to find. She appears to favor dark clothing.”

“I wonder if she actually knows where she is going, hn.” 

Sasori tilted his head back and stared up at the wild blue yonder. The sky was hued with sapphire out here. “I doubt that she does.” Then something else occurred to him. “I also doubt that she brought enough water to survive the way through here.” His hazel orbs looked down at the ground, tracking your footprints left in the patches of sand that swam around the bases of scruffy rocks in a pale, broken sea.

“If you took to the sky Deidara we may find her quicker. But be cautious. Stay high enough where you could be mistaken for a bird.” Sasori instructed his younger partner, not even looking at him as he spoke. He was too focused on following your tracks. “Should you see her before I do, circle back and let me know.”

“What, do you think other people might be out here, un?”

“There is a strong possibility.” Sasori admitted. “Aside from that, I remember my spies telling me that a few of Orochimaru’s fortresses were in the desert.” When he didn’t hear Deidara preparing to take wing, he gave the blond a sharp glare. “What the hell are you waiting for, get going!”

Deidara grumbled something incomprehensible and then said, “I’m working on it, Sasori- _danna_. …Nnh.” He sounded irate now alright. Sasori, usually moving a bit slow, yet always rushing others…he just liked moving at his own pace was all, but really now. A fellow artist should know not to rush art, or the results will not be desirable. Deidara had a sizeable wad of clay chewing over and over in his left hand, when it was ready he coughed it up into his palm and began forming the clay into a bird. He kept in mind what the Kazekage said to him during their confrontation.

 _’Those birds don’t exist around here.’_ Or something like that. So he shaped it into the kind of bird he’d seen circling on the thermals every so often. How any creature could survive out here was a mystery to him. There was nothing out here at all as far as the naked eye could see, not even cacti.

After his sculpture was complete, he focused and made it large enough for him to climb onto its back. “You know Sasori my man, if anyone is out here; I’m one of the last sights they’ll expect to see. And people don’t look up anyways, un.” He said, hopping onto the back of the large white bird. Yes it did look more like something you’d see in the desert. A type of bird of prey. From a distance if anyone happened to look upwards it would look fairly normal, but usually when it is so very sunny out and you’re in the desert, why would you stare at the sky unless you want to go blind?

“True, but we must keep the element of surprise on our side while we can. Now go.”

Deidara dropped the topic and flew away, high into the sky, to the point where Sasori looked very small on the ground. 

The Clay Master found himself musing over the thought that he must look like a bird of prey, and how he’d like to swoop down upon you and spirit you away to his ‘nest’. Everyone else got to spend some time with you one way or another, and Konan had piqued his interest in you. He wanted to get to know you since you seemed to be one of the other people in this organization with a sense of humor…himself and Kisame seemed to be the only ones with something approaching ‘color’ in their personalities. Unless Tobi counts, and Deidara found that pumpkinhead too irritating for words.

He didn’t need to fly on for very long before he spied more people-ants on the ground. One was off to the side, and then there was another row of four dots that kept fading in and out of sight because they traveled in a dry ravine.

Deidara was certainly glad that he made a fast side-trip not long ago to have another surgery and have his monocular implanted again. The poor doctor thought he was going senile when Dei walked in the door with two eyes, as though he never had an ocular implant to begin with. The surgery was relatively quick, but not painless. The flesh around the implant remained slightly tender since the surgery wasn’t all that long ago.

He reached up and placed a hand on the side of his monocular and focused the lens in so he could get a better glimpse at who the people were on the ground. Upon zooming in once or twice he saw that the one off to the side was you. The others were all familiar with the exception of one person; the guy with a belly shirt. 

This complicated things a bit!

_With You…_

 

A dilemma was staring you in the face. Not only were you now too high up to try sneaking down into the crevasse with the rest of them, but up ahead that very same fissure ended in the form of a box canyon. At one point it may have been a deep lake, since it was shallower in some areas; and in two places deep, rough steps of stone were formed. For the most parts, a lot of these naturally formed stairs had caved in for one reason or another. Now you would have to find cover elsewhere if you wanted to remain undetected, because they would be forced out of the shade now sooner or later, and it looked a hell of a lot easier to just climb up the side of the riverbed crevice to higher ground than just press onwards and trek the wide, steep stone steps upwards, which were so battered and broken that they were a deathtrap waiting to snap.

Their voices had been silent until now. The crevice funneled the sound straight up to you.

“So what do we do from here?” The pink-haired Sakura asked, hopping up on top of a flat rock and staring out at the massive stone basin ahead of them. 

“I don’t want to go in there. We will come up this way and go forewords.” Their captain, Yamato, replied.

“Aww MAAAN, I wish we coulda stayed in the shade longer.” Naruto complained. Sai shot him a false-sweet smile and told him to get a pair and deal with it.

“What is it with you and—“ Naruto started, only to be cut off by Yamato. “—Enough you two. Let’s keep moving.” And he crouched and leapt upwards from rock to rock. They’d be in the shade until they reached the top. Then the real torture would begin. It was the hottest part of the day. That was the whole reason why they traveled down low in the first place. The four-man cell had been out and about for days already, and there wasn’t a rest stop anywhere near here so they were especially tired. And Yamato didn’t want to hear everyone’s mouth. 

Up on higher ground, you scowled and looked around for a better place to hide. But there was nothing. It was flat. That was when you saw the winged shadow on the ground swooping around and back the way you came. You turned and peered over your shoulder but only saw a bird of prey high in the sky. It crossed by the sun and you turned away to think about more pressing matters. Up ahead was a wide horseshoe-shaped canyon past the dried basin, only this one was steep on all sides with the exception of some fissures here and there in the old reddish rock. The only places to hide there were within some of those very large cracks that you could see sparks of sunlight from other side at this distance. They must be a lot larger up close…large enough for maybe two people to stand in shoulder-to-shoulder, and clearly they went all the way through, but there was only three such cracks. With the dark coloring of your clothes, you might be able to hide in there and be unseen while keeping an eye on them.

You were running towards that place already, but here’s the question: could you make it? There was a ways to go. Your leg muscles were on fire in no time from the strain of running on hard ground scattered with sand, making it easy to slide. Glancing back, you thought you saw Yamato poke his head up over the lip of the riverbed. If he didn’t see you yet, he would soon, because now all of them were jumping out and onto flat ground. 

You were happy that you weren’t wearing a cloak from the Akatsuki or else this situation would turn from possibly bad to highly dangerous.

Hmmm, maybe you could trick them? Who knows, they might surprise you and not give chase.

 

_With Sasori and Deidara…_

“Sasori!” Deidara landed next to Sasori. “I found her. But she isn’t alone. Those assholes from Konoha are there too. The blond one called Naruto, and the pink-haired girl that stayed to fight you, and two others.”

Sasori was alarmed at this newsflash. “Are they after her?”

“I don’t know. They might not know she’s there. But they’ll know soon, they will have to get out of the riverbed they were walking through. We might be on the right track after all, un!”

“I agree.” Sasori assented. “The jinchuuriki is after Uchiha Sasuke. Unless something else is happening I can think of no other reason why he would be out here.” He jumped onto Deidara’s bird sculpture without warning, but Deidara hardly flinched at this. “Follow them. And fly high.” Sasori ordered him, not caring how Deidara felt about being pushed around. Dei respected Sasori of course, but there were days he hated being partnered with the master puppeteer. What was it with Pein and putting the two of them together? Is it because they’re both artists? It was almost a recipe for disaster since their opinions never failed to get in the way!

They took wing and flew as high as they could without losing sight of you and the others on the ground. Sasori wasn’t fond of doing this but he had no choice, if he went on foot much further he’d risk being spotted. At least this way they were far less conspicuous, or so he hoped. As long as Deidara directed the bird so it flew straight and its underside was parallel to the ground, they wouldn’t be seen sitting on top of it.

Four dots on the ground began running towards the one up ahead of them.

 

_With Team Kakashi…_

“Who is that?” Sakura wondered aloud, shielding her eyes and starting to move forewords. “I’ve never seen that woman before!”

“Maybe she works for Orochimaru?” Sai suggested. 

“I can’t think of any other reason why someone would be out here.” Yamato admitted. “But let’s not assume. There could be something we aren’t considering.”

“Nope, she’s running from us alright!” Sakura declared.

“Then let’s catch her already! She’s running so she probably works for Orochimaru! And that means Sasuke’s here too!” Naruto fumed, running recklessly ahead of Sakura whom had the lead. The others followed and gave chase. But you were starting to get farther and farther away even as they ran after you. Speed is one of your fortes after all!

“Man she’s fast!” Sakura complained and sped up, pouring chakra into her legs so she could catch up.

Once they all copied her good example they managed to draw closer to you. Funny thing was, they had to use their chakra to catch up, but you weren’t using the same trick as they were…this was your own level of speed.

“HEY!” Naruto yelled after you. 

You glanced over your shoulder, amethyst eyes flashing in the sunlight, hair bound into a long black ponytail flowing back behind your head like a silken streamer, then turned and stared ahead and kept going. 

“I don’t think she’s going to stop.” Sai told Yamato, drawing level with him. He nodded in agreement. 

The horseshoe-shaped canyon loomed up ahead. 

Sakura tightened her hand into a fist and looked back at Yamato, who nodded his head once, and she then focused chakra into it and slammed her knuckles into the ground, causing the ground to form spiderweb cracks so it broke apart loudly beneath everyone’s feet. Alarmed at this, you leapt upwards at the last second, twisted in midair, and landed atop the tip of a disfigured rock jutting out of the ground. You were facing them, trying to keep a poker face. They had all stopped as well in different positions amongst the jumble of stone and sand.

Naruto was too busy glaring at you to be mad at Sakura for not warning him before she acted. “Hey! Where’s Sasuke!” He demanded, straight off the bat, making you drop your poker face entirely in order to adopt a look of true blue confusion.

“…Sasuke?” You echoed, blinking at him. “I've never met anybody with that name before."

“You liar! Why’re you out here then, huh?!” Naruto demanded, making the others sigh. “Naruto, she said she doesn’t know.” Sakura told him, but he would have none of it. “But Sakura, she’s out here for a reason!"

“Want to know why I’m here?” You offered. “I’m lost.” Which was true. “And then when I saw all of you, I wasn't sure I should approach you. So I watched you guys while I kept going and hoped that eventually you’d lead me out of this place. I was worried you might kill me if you saw me.”

“But how’d you end up out here in the first place?” Sakura inquired pointedly.

“I'm not sure.” You ‘admitted’. “I don’t remember anything. I woke up with my head hurting and don’t know how I got here.”

Yamato’s creepy black eyes bore into your own from where he stood, searching to know if you lied or not. 

“So why would you think we might try to kill you?” Yamato asked.

“I…uh…” You looked sheepish. It was a very convincing expression, actually. “…well…you guys just kinda look creepy and since I don’t remember much of anything, I had to assume the worst.” You laughed loudly, thinking of some embarrassing moment in your life so you’d blush a little. “I’m sorry! It’s silly of me isn’t it? Hahaha!”

Sakura blanched and looked down at herself, then around at the others. Well they hadn’t bathed for like two days, and yeah they looked kind of icky that way…but she didn’t think they all looked downright _creepy_. Oh well, maybe with the exception of Sai and Captain Yamato’s eyes.

The four of them looked at one another. You certainly were cute…very disarming, very 'truthful'. Yamato couldn’t detect a single lie. Sometimes people got ambushed in the woods, or it could be that you hit your head and developed amnesia. You definitely looked like a kunoichi, but your hitai-ate wasn’t in sight. You had thought to stow it in your medic bag because the sun would reflect off it, and the last thing you needed was a shining beacon that screamed, ‘HELLO, I AM HERE!’

“Do you remember where you are from?” Yamato asked finally. You tilted your head. “Where I’m from?” You repeating, giving him a blank look. “…Uhhh…” You tapped your lower lip with an index finger thoughtfully.

“We don’t have time to sit around guys, we need to go find Sasuke! What if they leave the hideout before we can get to them?!” Naruto practically exploded.

“Naruto, calm down. We’re running that risk as it is. You’d do well to remember that.” Yamato told him firmly.

“Yeah, and we can’t just leave her here Naruto…uhm…hey, what’s your name?” Sakura asked you, looking much gentler now than she had before, when she had a wild spark in her eye after crushing the ground within a large radius.

“My…name…?” You asked, looking even more clueless and helpless than before. “I…uh…” Your purple eyes glanced around, searching futilely for a reminder. As if staring at rocks and sand would help you. “I don’t know.” You admitted after a moment of ‘racking your brains’. Wow. This ruse was working better than you thought it would.

But somehow Sai didn’t trust you. Probably because he was a very good liar himself. 

In fact, Sai was now looking quietly through a book he had in his small backpack while the others held a conversation with you. His Bingo Book to be exact. It had been updated while they were back in Konoha. He could’ve sworn he had seen you before. But he wasn’t sure if it was in town somewhere or in this book that he had seen you.

“Oh no…” Sakura covered her mouth with a dusty gloved hand, looking upset for you. "You don’t remember a thing, do you?” She asked quietly, then motioned towards your thigh were black bandages were wrapped around a thigh, and a senbon holster was fastened around that by its leather straps. “Do you remember how to fight?”

Maybe you’d be some help, who knew? 

You reached to the senbon holster and withdrew one of the long, slender needles from it. The needle gleamed bright silver in the intense sun. “Maybe.” You admitted, examining the senbon. “It might all come back to me if I had to defend myself.”

Up above, circling on the thermals, Deidara watched the whole thing like a hawk. He couldn’t really hear what you all were saying at this altitude, but he could read your lips with his eye scope.

“What is happening down there?” Sasori grudgingly queried his fellow artist, who smirked. “I’m not really sure but I think she’s trying to trick them. I can’t picture a girl like her cooperating with a bunch of shinobi from Konoha, un.”

“She might be though.” Sasori suggested.

“Sasori, we would’ve known if she was a spy by now don’t you think? Leader doesn’t let people in without cross examining them first. I know it’s hard for you but try having a little faith in her. And she’s a rogue ninja like us. Do you really think that other countries would enlist her help, un?”

Sasori hated to admit it to himself but Deidara had a point there. So he _didn’t_ admit it and kept his mouth shut. If Deidara was waiting for an answer, they’d be ice-skating back to HQ because hell would freeze over first.

“She better watch out though.” Deidara said suddenly.

“No shit.” Sasori grunted.

“No, I mean that the kid in black is looking at a Bingo Book, un.” 

“Did you see us in it?”

“He just flipped through the Akatsuki section and our profiles had a big black ‘x’ on each of them, so did Kakuzu and Hidan’s.” Deidara replied, watching Sai now instead of you. He could see part of what you were saying by watching your lips move but not hear you too well. Then he decided to focus chakra to his ears and listened hard.

“…I’m sure you can tag along with us until we get out of here.” Sakura said. She didn’t totally trust you herself even as she watched you simply put away the senbon you took out; but you seemed harmless enough since you have ‘amnesia’. Sakura knew they’d be able to handle you easily enough if you turned on them. Besides, there is the chance that you might be telling the truth. If you were, how awful would it be to just leave you to dry up and starve out here?

Well. She _thought_ they’d be able to handle you if worse comes to worst.

Though Sai was still rather unsure of this. You bothered him more than his smile bothered everyone else. There was just something about you. He was still leafing through his bingo book as you all turned and started walking onwards.

“So, uhh, this is the way out of this place? I got so lost…” You asked, keeping up your charade.

“No we’re doing something else first.” Naruto said, gradually warming up to you. You were aware that Yamato and Sai were walking behind the three of you. Sakura and Naruto had fallen into step on either side of you. Normally, he would be up to the task of assisting one who is lost and in need of help. Except tempers were running as high and hot as the thermometer out here. He was so close to his goal he could taste it.  
“Oh? Like what?” You prodded.

“Gonna go get Sasuke back!” He told you. Boy, this was a feisty young man. He had a lot of spirit in him.

“Why is this Sasuke so important anyway?” 

Sakura looked troubled but said nothing. Naruto had no problem speaking up about it though. “He was the first one to ever recognize me.” He said, a faraway look tinting his eyes. “He’s like my best friend. And I don’t let friends go that easily. Orochimaru is gonna use his body, and I can’t let that happen to him. No matter how deep he got himself into this mess.”

It took a great deal of willpower on your part to bite your tongue and stop yourself from scoffing at him. It sounded to you like this guy had separation anxiety. Or he just suffocated the people he got to know. Or it could be something else. But still you needed to give the foxboy some kind of credit; not many people would go through hell and high water to save someone. It was hard to come across people who would really stick their neck out. You wished you knew more people like that. The only reason why others tried to make nice with you was because you were good at what you do and they wanted to pick up some pointers. Such reasoning is shallow as hell. You were a firm believer in the expression of, ‘you can pick your friends, but not your family’, and as such, you were very explicit in your choices as to whom you’d trust.  
You didn’t really trust your own family because…well, example: They went and betrothed you to some old geezer and in doing so, proved themselves as people you wanted nothing to do with. All your family ever relied on you for was bragging rights; you were the current Gyaku clan prodigy, despite that they never wanted you to enroll in ninja academy to begin with. All they saw you as was a prized trophy on their mantle once you became more accomplished. Was there any love involved there? Nothing beyond the, ‘you are our own flesh and blood, so we must care for you.’ Was there love for your brother? Yes. He was their baby, their little baby boy, the one who would carry the family name on. They resented the fact that you were the prodigy of the clan, not your brother. Was it a broken home? No. Not at all. There was no abuse. There were no angry words beyond the usual family squabbles over this and that. 

Maybe it was heartless to feel this way, but you didn’t miss your family what-so-fricking-ever. After their blood sullied your hands, you felt a great weight lift off your shoulders that you were not aware of to begin with. You didn't regret what you did to the Grass Village, and in doing what you did, royally fucked-over that small satellite town that the older man you were to marry lived in. You severed your ties with that infernal place for a damned _plethora_ of reasons. 

While you were mulling over some things about friendship and your bloody past, and occasionally participating in the conversation between Sakura and Naruto, Sai looked up at Yamato whose eyes moved towards the page of the book that lay open. It was in the back of the book, your profile. It was the newest one.

“Gyaku Saiya?” Yamato murmured, lips hardly moving. Were there a wind, his voice would’ve been lost on it. Sai nodded his head faintly, awaiting Yamato's reaction. He was trying not to let worry etch onto his face. You were very bad news. He knew this when he first laid eyes on you. Now here’s a good question: what the fuck were you REALLY doing out here?

You were someone not to be taken lightly. Not only did you affect the Grass, but other places as well after you severed your ties with your home nation. You have been a missing ninja for not all that long and even if your name was at the back of the book, you were ranked as one of the most dangerous out of all the worrisome ninja; as the _Top 10_ was in the back. You were number ten on the list. Gyaku Saiya, the tenth worst person to encounter in the entire world as far as the ANBU Black Ops was concerned. Bad news. Bad bad bad fucking news.

Sai closed the book at put it away and then spoke to Yamato. “I knew something was off about her.” He told Yamato, quietly. “Now I know what it is. She has been lying this whole time to cover her rear. And you guys ate it all up.”

Yamato felt guilty for even considering trusting you. He knew something wasn’t right, but it wasn’t such a strong feeling that he took much stock in it. He figured that the worst case scenario would be that Orochimaru was using you as bait. But he didn’t even consider that you’d be one of the ten most wanted in the world. It was a chilling thought. There were criminals on that list that were around a hell of a lot longer and took awhile to get into the Top 10, which was really a big deal because the people on that short list are the ones that every single ninja nation agrees needs to be taken down…not just the ones that Konoha for example would want dead. And here you are, the woman that got to the bottom of that prestigious list in _just under a year._ What earned you that spot wasn't only the way in which you left the Grass. It was what you did after. 

Once you began experimenting with the Reanimation Jutsu, strange and horrific occurrences popped up erratically. At first it was impossible to explain to the general populace, but people would go missing and be found later, twisted into abominations by experiments terrible beyond imagining. Ninja Councils glossed it over and explained it away as ritual dismemberment or some other similarly horrendous crime against humanity, but the truth was vastly more hideous than that. These people and animals had been killed in order to be brought back to life. But none were considered successful. In memory, only a few incidents stood out, and they involved animated corpses displaying vile, zombie-like traits if found in the hours after you discarded them like the pointless trash you considered them to be. Those didn't last longer than ten hours, their flesh decomposing rapidly, dribbling disgusting humors wherever they lingered. Life after life, spirited away and dispensed with at your leisure in the most despicable of ways. Roughly 75% of your victims became so warped they were visually unrecognizable and occasionally, ANBU Black Ops found sites you utilized as tiny laboratories to commit your atrocities.

Yes. You had _much_ to answer for.

Up above, Sasori and Deidara were hardly talking. They were curious about what would happen next. You hadn’t made much of a move, and they knew now that Yamato and the mime-esque guy figured out who you are. However, they were sent to assist you, not baby you. If things got sticky they’d step in. First and foremost this was your mission, not theirs, and they were only here to ensure success. Though it was pretty interesting that Leader did a complete 180 and decided to see you through this to the end. Before he wanted you to do it on your own. If precautionary measures weren't taken; he knew that he’d be throwing away a person who was _far_ too valuable to the organization. Deidara wondered if breakfast had anything to do with it. He sure was in a good mood after he finished eating.

For that matter, everyone else was too!  
More talking roped Deidara’s attention. It was so quiet that his chakra enhanced hearing didn't help, so it was back to lip reading.

“We can’t warn them without warning her too. And we can’t afford to handle another threat.” Sai mused softly, loud enough for only Yamato to hear. 

“No we can’t. But we may be able to use her to our advantage. She could be useful against Orochimaru and his lackeys.” Yamato told him. 

_That_ caught your attention. Hmm, this wasn’t as bad as you feared it would become. But who’s using who? They were after your prey. You weren’t going to stand for that. So you decided to pull a different trick on them.

“Okay. So you don’t trust me.” You said loudly enough so the two at the rear of the group to hear you. By now, you all were at one corner of the horseshoe canyon. You turned and fixated a penetrating, accusatory gaze upon Yamato and Sai. “You two should be more discreet about such conversation. What do you take me for?”

They all immediately tensed. “What? What’s going on?” Naruto demanded.

“My name is Gyaku Saiya. Not so pleased to meet you four. But before you all draw arms against me, listen to what I have to say. You can choose to believe me or not.” 

Yamato's brow furrowed, but he nodded curtly. Might as well hear you out.

“I am out here for personal reasons. That snake bastard ruined my life. He captured and experimented upon people whom were very close to me, and would’ve done the same to me if I hadn’t been rescued during a raid on one of his hideouts, along with a score of other people. It was nothing but dumb luck." You kicked at the sand underfoot. "I know I’m probably going to die doing this, but I want to at least try to get some form of revenge on him. I doubt you believe me. But I hate him with every fiber of my being. I will not be able to rest if I don’t try. I don’t care if I die trying.” You clenched a fist at your side; your other hand out of sight at this angle, and thankfully so. This way you could form half of the 'concentration' seal discreetly, and try to make good this deception with genjutsu. It was a gamble. If this genjutsu didn't work then they would see straight through a second set of blatant lies; and then there'd be no trust to be had. It took a little doing, but after that moment passed, they believed you, and you nearly let out a pent up breath. Either the weak genjutsu was enough to trick them into believing you, or they truly felt that your explanation was plausible. Orochimaru had kidnapped a lot of people for his twisted experiments. And besides, in a sense, this explained your penchant for disgusting experiments of your own. As far as they were concerned; you wouldn't be the first or last person Orochimaru mindfucked. 

While you once thought genjutsu was an ace up your sleeve, you realized it wasn't as strong a talent as you were banking on. You had slacked off on practicing it, and given recent circumstances, it was understandable you didn't have time to pick it back up again. Granted; it is exceedingly helpful to have a few extra weapons in your arsenal that aren't public knowledge. It served you well enough now; giving the illusion of an angered, passionate woman, someone who did not lie about what she claimed…a person who really needed vengeance. While Naruto almost tried to dissuade you but he decided against it. Maybe you weren't such a horrible person as the book stated you were. But the silent glares he was now receiving from Sakura to _keep his mouth shut_ ensured that he said nothing to prevent an evil madwoman from her crash course with death.

And besides. This could always turn out better than expected with some additional help, whatever the source might be. “ Alright. Then let’s go. You can have Orochimaru, I guess. But don’t touch Sasuke!” Naruto exclaimed, making you blink at him. “If Sasuke attacks me, not only do I have no idea what he looks like, but I will defend myself if assaulted. Keep that in mind.”

Whew, looks like you wouldn’t need to raise a hand to these people. Yet. And this also means that Deidara and Sasori would be able to stay hidden longer too. But Sasori was burnt with wrath. He wanted to mangle Sakura beyond recognition for what she did. Yes…oh yes. There was tremendous animosity there.

“He has black hair and eyes. All the girls in Konoha loved him for his looks. He’s even more handsome now that he’s-“

“-you can stop now.” You cut in rudely, glancing around. “That’s enough of a description for me. He’s a real looker, you say. Got it.” Drat. You were kind of looking foreword to making him maybe a bit less handsome...you heard that Sasuke was a smug brat. You enjoyed taking people like that down a few pegs. But you got to deal with the biggest brat of them all: Orochimaru.

And as you all traveled past the canyon, a steep wall came into view, and carved into it were the makings of a fortress. Since hours had passed now, it was closer to nightfall and there were some lights on in a few of the windows, only two or three.

Found them.


	9. Shock Value

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You face off against Orochimaru and find yourself hopelessly outmatched.

Shock Value

 

There where whispers behind you. The four-man cell of Team Kakashi insisted that you walk out in front. Probably because you’re a rogue ninja and they wanted to keep all sets of eyes on you constantly. 

At the same time another two sets of eyes were watching you as well. Sasori and Deidara had to land every so often so Deidara could make another type of bird to fly around on. It’d be far too suspicious if the same animal kept following you all. But at this point the five of you were plotting on how to get Orochimaru out of his hideout, along with his cronies Kabuto and Sasuke. But no one would be upset at all if Kabuto didn’t turn up.

“I have no idea what to do other than infiltrate the building. That is all we can do.” Yamato told the four of you. Presently you all were hidden behind a monolithic cluster of rocks not far away from the fortress. It was out of earshot of what appeared to be the front door.

“So we’ll do what we did last time? I doubt the front door is going to be open.” Sakura said.

You rolled your eyes and spoke up, “Are you people suicidal? This is Orochimaru we’re talking about. You don’t run the same gag twice, you pull a different trick on him every time or he’ll get wiser to you.”

“Got something in mind then?” Yamato asked you. Naruto was being fidgety and impatient. Sai was listening quietly. 

“There are only a handful of windows in the front. Let’s scout the whole area out, see what other entrances and exits there are. But if it’s only the front windows and the front door, that is something we can work with easily. Orochimaru has his snake babies slithering around the place like scaly guard dogs, that’s how it always is.”

“So what?” Naruto grumbled, making eye contact with you.

“Are you forgetting who I am, kid?” You mocked. “I can poison people, and I certainly can gas them out too. I fabricated a poison that is just as potent as a vapor as it is when it is in liquid form. If I burn a few vials of it in there, then the snakes will sense it before the humans do and would more than likely start acting strange or just try and escape. Orochimaru might catch on as well but he’s no fool. There is no wind out here to help ventilate that building. Either they’ll stay, breath it in and die, or they’ll figure their security has been compromised and they’ll high-tail it out of there. If we have all the exits covered and strategically place some traps and clones, one way or another we’ll be able to catch them on their way out. And even if they decide to wait it out until the air is clear, they’ll need to hunt down the person responsible for this.”

Upon concluding your little plan, the others were dumbstruck. It sounded like an pretty good plan actually. Except for one thing. 

“That’s…good and all, but…you’ll be in there too.” Sakura pointed out. “Even if those snakes sense it first, it will affect everyone in the building. Including you.”

“Don’t worry about me. I have made sure that I’m immune.” You said. “You guys aren’t getting rid of me that easily. Besides, you could say I have a will to live. I am here to settle a score, after all. Don’t go around thinking that I’ll let myself die before I can give that snake bastard something to remember me by first!”

“At least until he gets his next body.” Sai mused quietly, making Naruto gritted his teeth. “No! That won’t happen! He’s not using Sasuke!!!”

You stood up and arched your spine, placing your hands at the small of your back and popping a few vertebrae with a faint grimace. “Alright guys. We going to move out and get the show on the road or what? He won't smoke himself out, you know.”

Yamato nodded to Naruto. “Use your shadow clones.” He then reached behind him into one of his two packs attached to his belt and pulled out a handful of radios attached to black collars. “Here. I only have enough for the four of us though.” He said, looking at you almost apologetically.

“I don’t need any souvenirs from this journey anyway, if I survive” You informed him. “Besides, I don’t really need to be let in on your conversations. I’d much prefer let you plot against me in peace. You guys will know if it works or not.”

“ ‘If’?” Sakura echoed.

“There is a chance this might not work. Did I forget to mention that? Well, now you know. So do yourselves a favor and come up with a backup plan.”

“What about you Saiya?” Naruto asked, tying the radio on around his neck. 

“What about me?”

“Don’t you need a backup plan too?” He asked.

“Oh, that. Heh…for me, this _is_ Plan B. I’ll just stick with my Plan A if this doesn’t work.” You admitted darkly, seeming to know something that they didn’t. You had Akatsuki on your side. You knew it the second you saw that stark white bird in the sky earlier. Unless Deidara was just here to spy on you, since aside from Zetsu he was the ideal choice for a spy in a location like this. He could stay well out of harm’s way and keep an eye on you from afar. You had no clue that Sasori was with him too. But there was no insurance that Deidara would assist you if things got bad. You figured Zetsu would be around; if anyone it should be him that followed you because should you fail, he’d be able to clean up your corpse before anyone could pick your dead brain for any juicy bits of information. 

Naruto made nine shadow clones, each with a duplicated radio on his neck. He named them by number for the sake of being able to differentiate between them and where they were. He would not have done such a thing ordinarily but he did only because Captain Yamato ordered it. The last thing they needed was for an argument to break out over the already very loud radios, and spark a bit of a riot between allies. For being the same person, Naruto and his clones sure disagreed about a lot of things.

After discreetly scouting the place out, you all discovered that indeed the front was the only way in and out. How is that so? Because right behind the fortress was a sheer drop into nothingness, the bottom couldn’t be seen, and the walls were so smooth and wind-eroded that they’d be impossible to scale. The only way to the bottom was either taking the loooong step down or flying.

“So there is one alternative we didn’t consider. There might be underground passages, but that makes so little sense to me because the badlands are too broken up, and this place stretches out many miles in all directions.” Yamato told you. You shook your head. “There won’t be a tunnel. If there was one, and someone found out about it, they’d also find out about this place and any other fortresses connected to it. That would be too foolish and risky to network two or more places together underground.”

Yamato agreed, saying that this made much sense. 

“Alright, I better head in then.” You said, and peeked out from around the edge of your hiding spot.

“Saiya?” You heard Naruto’s voice say. You turned and looked at him over your shoulder.

“What?”

He smiled, looking troubled. He knew you were walking into a deathtrap. It's exactly what this was, and no one voiced it. His conscience tends to get in the way, and no matter how bad you were made out to be, this felt wrong. But he understood the whip driving you called 'revenge'. “Uh, nothing. Good luck.”

Your hardened gaze softened a moment and you offered the ghost of a smile to him before leaping out from your hiding spot and flitting towards the front of the hideout as fast as you could. You were moving fast enough to not be seen except as a faint blur. 

“She’s a fool.” Yamato said at last, now that you weren’t in earshot. “They’ll be watching the front because that is the only way in and out.”

“Saiya has to do this though. Just like how I have to save Sasuke from Orochimaru.” Naruto answered after a second. 

“She does know the risks.” Sakura added in quietly, looking a little downcast that they must witness what would likely turn into a grisly slaughter. It would be yet another testament to Orochimaru’s power. You’d be another death for him to tuck under his belt. A missing-ninja that couldn’t hold a candle to him.

Or…that’s how it _should_ happen anyway. That’s what they’d _think_ would happen. 

As you were just about to reach the nearest window, the huge carved stone double doors swung open, slamming against the wall on either side of them with a resounding ‘bang’. Out came an irate Orochimaru, followed closely by Sasuke and Kabuto, a pale brown snake at their heels. There was murder in Orochimaru’s eyes. Murderous intent meant for you.

You flipped backwards so you stood a respectable distance away from him and his thugs Sasuke and Kabuto. They looked a little harried themselves. You knew why too…this wasn’t your first encounter with them, and in fact, you had a little run-in with them by chance when you were on the lam from the Grass. What you told Sasori back at HQ wasn't a lie as he assumed it was.

Safe to say, Orochimaru wasn’t your biggest fan since then and Sasuke had as much love for you as he would for a hole in the head. Kabuto hid the feeling from the others but he felt a little creeped out around you. You were one scary bitch he’d never want to encounter in a dark alleyway. Not to mention all the discarded experiments and lab sites they found. It was like a less-scaly female Orochimaru was lurking around the next tree.

Your lips curled into a wide, wisecracking grin with the deepest kind of satisfaction. “Ahhhh, how long has it been now?” 

“Not long enough.” Orochimaru hissed, golden eyes hard and unreadable. He gritted his teeth. “Tell me, Saiya- _chan_. Do you enjoy harassing me?”

Okay okay, so you ran into them more than once before. Technicalities, technicalities.

“Do you really want me to answer that or are you just saying that in a brazen attempt to sound threatening?” You asked him, looking amused. “Because you really should stick where you’re better acquainted, you don’t do ‘threatening’ very well Orochimaru- _kun_.”

You both were only sickeningly sweet and endearing towards each other because you hated one another’s guts. But it was kind of freakish and funny at the same time. Kabuto was having a hard time not chuckling, though he was smirking as per usual.

“Why did she ask me anything about him if she already knows him?” Sasori wondered aloud, but kept his voice low. Deidara appeared very confused himself. “How the hell do they know each other, un?” 

“How should I know?” Sasori grunted, staring out at the scene unfolding before them. He was thinking back to before, the encounter in the hallway, and opted out of telling Deidara that you mentioned this before. He didn't believe it then, but he was having issues denying it now, that you weren't a liar.

Team Kakashi was equally as confused.

 

“Oh Orochimaru-kun, I’m so wounded you aren’t happy to see me.” You pouted, hands now clasped behind your back. “I guess…” You withdrew your hands from behind your back, and there were six needles between the knuckles of each of your fingers. “…I’ll just have to express my sadness a different way this time.” A nasty smirk marred your lips. There was no point in pretending to be emotionless and unaffected. The only barbs you ever traded with Orochimaru were indirect ones in the past, leaving 'presents' behind when you knew your paths would cross...filthy, rotten test subjects rigged as traps, or 'humorous' jabs leveled at his antiquated style of experimentation. 

You prepared to strike.

He tensed and did a few handseals before transforming his arms into snakes which telescoped towards you on lengthening necks.You darted foreword and between them, making Orochimaru force his serpentine arms to curl backwards and attempt to constrict you, but you somersaulted to the side and landed on the other side of his right arm. The two sets of yellow eyes glared at you from where his knuckles should be, but not for long. You put senbon right through the pupil of all four of those eyes. Orochimaru suppressed a grimace and dispelled the technique, unable to catch you with it anyhow. He pulled the needles out from between where his knuckles quickly as possible, blood spilling from the tiny holes. Whirling to face you, he bit his thumbs and then performed the series of handseals required to summon another snake. But the snake he wanted to bring into this world never saw daylight…from where you were standing; you’d activated the Wind and Fire symbols and then sent a blade that was a combination of both at the snake man. Not only did it sever his arms from the elbow-down off from his body, but it left a nasty deep gash that extended from his side across his entire stomach. And to top that all of, the fire was hot enough to completely incinerate the flesh that it touched. 

This was reason for alarm on Orochimaru’s part. This was new, as far as he was aware you weren't capable of elemental jutsu at all. No one had done that to him before, and he didn’t like it much either. A noise approaching an angry hiss tore from his throat and he shed the pale skin of his body, climbing out of his own mouth. This would take about three minutes always; he could only do it so fast. But hey now, who said you’d wait?

While he was up to doing that, you were forming a mental image of what a fire storm would look like. You darted past him and reached down, fingers brushing through the dirt too quickly as you passed by for anyone to figure out exactly what you were doing. Orochimaru wasn’t about to worry about his ring when his life is on the line, and while the flesh of his hand had burnt to fine ashes, the ring you were instructed to fetch was unaffected and merely fell to the ground. Now it was in your possession and you pocketed it quickly, glad that he had it on his person this time around. Before leaving, you did a small amount of digging and found that he took to wearing his Akatsuki ring these days for a good reason: espionage. Orochimaru had taken on a new shape for awhile so he could communicate with Sasori's underling personally, taking on the form of somebody this person could trust. Orochimaru wore this ring as a sign to that underling so they would recognize him as the individual they were to meet.

Good, now that was out of the way. You didn’t need to worry too much about losing track of this important object.

But your firestorm idea so far was a no-go. You also had noticed that Orochimaru had dragged a third of his body out of his mouth, which was vaguely disgusting to say the least. You created another windfire blade, and this time you went for his new body. The blade sizzled as it flew through the air, translucent and looking like pale yellowish-orange fire, but its weak color didn’t indicate how lethal it was. The blade parted skin, muscle and bone below the head of the new body that was two-thirds of the way out by now, and both fell to the ground, vile blood spattering the sand and rocks in a splotchy arc. This time, he stayed down, but something was clearly very wrong.

For one thing, it wasn’t just Orochimaru that had a problem now. Your nameless wind-flame blade jutsu was sapping far too much energy per usage. It was only because you had to moderate between the two energies with chakra of your own, and force them to fuse together into a actual shape. It isn't extremely common for two elements to be cast together by one person, and it takes a great deal of repetition to get it right. Since you were planning this out on the fly and meshing the dual elements together into an actual _shape_ , which also takes a great deal of effort and training, the energy ratio was out of whack and rapidly proved that this technique was too inefficient to use without prior practice. In the eyes of those watching it was nothing short of astounding, and would be even _more_ so if they knew this was something you came up with off the cuff. Naruto alone stared agog, nearly disbelieving what he was seeing. It took him a week to get Rasengan down out of determination alone. Working in shape and rotation was hard as it is back then. Later on, at a more advanced stage and with astringent measures taken on his training regiment, he was able to mesh his wind nature into the jutsu. On a whim, you were capable of not only forming an elegant crescent blade-shaped jutsu, but based it off two elements which supercharge one another in order to maximize damage. But it would prove too dicey to continue with, and you had to minimize the mistakes. There was nearly no margin for error in a battle against one of the three sannin. 

Thus, you needed another plan. That was okay, Orochimaru did too. Except now, the ugly tangled lump of flesh and clothing was starting to quiver, before it molded together and burst out, shaping itself quickly into…well…you thought he’d become a snake at first, but he turned into his normal humanoid shape. And boy did he look pissed.

“I’ve allowed you to live for far too long, Saiya- _chan_.” He made your name sound like a filthy insult, same way you did when you spoke his name. 

“I could say the same to you.” You retorted and held your ground, watching him carefully.  
Not far away, Naruto and Sakura had confronted Sasuke. But it would seem that even if they ganged up on him, the Uchiha was far too formidable for them to handle at this time.

Yamato and Sai were otherwise engaged. They had Kabuto to handle. He's far tougher than his appearance dictates, and those chakra scalpels of his were no less than lethal. Chakra Scalpel can be used by most serious medics, but not in the heat of battle. It is a precision jutsu and too many variables make it an unwise ability to use outside of a more controlled environment. Certain conditions need to be met in order for it to become a truly effective weapon, and Kabuto was perhaps the _only_ known medic who used it seriously when fighting. His skill was so great with the Chakra Scalpel that he and he alone wielded it to deadly effect. With that one tool in his arsenal, he could cripple a foe effortlessly and most of the time, they would have no idea what hit them, not even when it was too late.

That left Sasori and Deidara, whom were merely watching your fight. Surprisingly enough, you had been matched against Orochimaru for over five minutes now and he hardly veered close enough to touch you. It might not last very long, but then again if you managed to win this fight without Orochimaru laying a finger on you it would be bragging rights for life.

All he seemed to work with was his snakes and just when you were thinking that this was going to get old fast, he brought something else out. He opened his mouth and snake crawled up his throat and opened its own mouth, then instead of a tongue, out popped a sword. You watched for two seconds, dumbfounded, before figuring it was wise to move and you would be right. Because that sword went straight at you, lengthening at lightning speed. 

“Freak.” You muttered, dodging around the blade smoothly. Orochimaru flexed his neck. It lengthened and he swung the sword towards you, evil laughter in his cruel golden eyes. You moved around the abnormal katana once again, determined to not let him touch you. In your determination, a new sigil on your left hand activated and glowed beneath the middle joint of your index finger. It was as though the floodgates to your power, because you felt chakra coursing through you like adrenaline and it acted the same way. Now you were moving a _hell_ of a lot faster. You were more agile too, and were able to avoid most any attack he threw at you, no matter how close it was. Now you were REALLY getting on his nerves!

Oh well, while you were distracted he could pull out the heavy artillery. 

He began the brief ritual that summons one of his greatest weapons…and then, with a flash that exploded before everyone’s eyes and a great deal of smoke…that very same smoke sucked inwards and formed into a gargantuan shape. It turned purplish, with pitch black stripes that rivaled the darkness of your hair. 

You looked upwards at the huge horned snake’s head that blotted out the sun. Orochimaru retracted his Kusanagi sword and leapt on top of Manda’s head.

But Manda was a little distraught that Orochimaru dared summon him for one person. 

“What the hell is this!?” The snake lord boomed. “You’ve brought me here for ONE LITTLE GIRL?”

Orochimaru looked down his nose at you. A mere medic shouldn't be able to push him this far, but then again, it was more his agitation than anything else. Of course, it didn't help that you weren't as well versed when it came to actual battle, like Tsunade who had many more years of experience under her belt than you did. She had the time to master a fighting style plus become one of the greatest Medics in the world. You however…clearly, judging from how unstable your earlier attacks were, spent more time learning how to heal and run away than anything else.

But the upshot of this was that you learned exquisite chakra control. It was the only thing saving your hide right now. Sasori knew you wouldn’t be able to use one of your greater assets, which was your poisons. He told you that before, and he remembered something else too.

“I told her not to let him get close.” He said, amused now.  
“And she listened to you. He hasn’t touched her yet, un.”

Orochimaru had managed to get Manda to agree to help him take you out. The snake was so huge that you viewed it as wasteful overkill. You were too small. So this meant to you that Manda might have some way to get a hold of you, despite your size. Or maybe he just intended to reduce you to a bloody smear in the sand. Either way, it was akin to using a cannon to kill a housefly.

Battle resumed on a frantic note for you. Manda was faster than you understood at first, and the ground rumbled and shook whenever his scaly bulk slithered across it. You were thankful for your newfound speed. But it was hard to control. As the symbol grew brighter without your notice, you were actually starting to move too fast for your own good. You were thinking too much, and not just following your instincts and reflexes which is what many shinobi learn to do. While it is good to keep a cool head on your shoulders in a fight, thinking too much can be the end of you.

There were a few close calls and you were getting really nervous. You felt the wind following every blow the giant snake leveled at you. The situation was turning from bad to worse. You started out way too cocky. But you were surviving, and you had a chance to figure this thing out and how to use it to your advantage. But your body was screaming with pain at the strain on your muscles. Inventing jutsus was easy. But you were reaching the end of your rope stamina-wise, because this new speed augmenting seal that you accidentally activated was eating up all your control and stamina. 

“Sasori..” Deidara began, looking nervous. “Something ain’t right. Un.”

Sasori was hardly listening to his partner and was instead analyzing the situation. If you couldn’t control yourself, then either you’d need to learn to or just stop what you’re doing altogether. Orochimaru was now having the best day of his week and was laughing his head off at your pathetic attempt to survive. He knew it the same as Sasori and Deidara did; you were slipping and that was good news for him. But it was nice that you managed to put up a better fight than many people against him. Last time he actually saw his own blood was when Naruto became consumed by the Demon Fox’s Cloak.

“AAGH!” You were hit. But you jumped backwards quick enough to only just get lashed away by Manda’s tail. Still, it was a crushing blow, and you ached all over from that one. All you could do was evade him! No matter what you did against the beast, his scales were like the thickest armor! But as you braced yourself to hit the ground after your short flight, you found your body twisting in midair only for you to land on your feet.

What?

Then you stood still and assumed a more defensive position and turned your face towards the snake lord and his miniscule pallid-faced summoner atop his head.

Manda turned towards you the slithered full-tilt in you direction, his gaping fanged maw stretching wide. 

The really scary part was that you couldn’t make yourself move even when you tried. It was as though you were shoved into the passenger’s seat and someone else was at the helm. Your face even relaxed into an impassive poker face.

Then something much unexpected occurred; Manda’s mouth closed on the area around you, but for some reason, he was unable to bite down. There was a shield preventing that from happening. But it looked like Manda got lockjaw from afar, because the shield wasn’t even visible. What was worse was that as he struggled to bite down and crush your little bubble of defense, he only sunk the tips of his tree-trunk fangs into the barrier and now couldn’t move his mouth at all. He was stuck there. Manda hissed in frustration, which sounded more like a tornado force wind up close. Your head tilted downwards and you found your hands moving on their own, coming up and forming the seal of the dragon. You noticed that symbols on your left hand were glowing. The one for Speed under your index was not shining, but the one below your thumb joint was. 

How was this happening? Why were you moving without your own will? 

The answer surfaced quickly. Sasori must be with Deidara. You would’ve smirked if you could. But his control was ironclad over you.

Your hands moved slowly at first, then faster. A new sigil on your right thumb glowed green. Then, from the ground, tremendous spikes of stone shot upwards and perforated the length of the snake’s body. Simultaneously you threw the shield against the cavern of Manda’s mouth and then zipped away while his head was knocked back for the moment. 

Manda was more than a little upset. But before he could tell Orochimaru off for summoning him, yet another arm of stone rocketed up from the ground and pierced through the bottom of his snout, upwards. Orochimaru jumped in time to avoid the huge point of rock, and Manda was in an unforgettable amount of pain…so much so that he decided to quit helping his summoner, and 'poofed' away. 

Orochimaru scowled and landed, but was an idiot not to be careful because the moment he landed, another stone spike shot through the ground between his feet and impaled him from crotch to mouth. It went up and up and up, higher than even the fortress in the background, higher than some stone formations, and when it stopped Orochimaru would have a very good view indeed.

Why yes, he saw the reason for the sudden change in your fighting style and in your attitude as well. Behind a large rock formation, standing atop a clay bird in midair with Deidara as the pilot, was Sasori. His hands were extended towards you, and though the strings were invisible right now, it all made sense now. Except for the part where Sasori is _alive_ whereas he should be _dead_ , and the same went for Deidara, whom offered a feral grin and waved ‘bye bye’ to the snake man. 

Sasori gave an arrogant smirk at Orochimaru before executing a series of fine, twitching movements of his fingers. Down below on the ground, you responded as soon as his fingers flicked and made a series of handseals. the air and water signs glowed now. Above, in the sky, clouds blossomed from nowhere and immediately began a direct downpour of lukewarm water onto everything in the vicinity. The storm obviously wasn’t natural. It only covered a certain radius.

And the whole time, others were watching. It was frightening and wondrous. How can a person use so many elements? Wind, fire, now earth and water? And some other weird tricks too? But why hadn't you done this sooner, and how can you use any of them in conjunction with the other? And this wasn't the extent of it! Now came the final blow. The execution of the snake himself that instilled fear into so many hearts.

From that freak storm came blinding flashes of sheet lightning, then from the center of it shot a lancet of lightning, striking Orochimaru where he was struggling to free himself from the stone spike that impaled him. He shouldn’t live through being impaled to begin with. But now he was soaking wet. He was stuck, but he managed to worm himself upwards so his head was no longer impaled. Big mistake. Now instead of the stone, he was the highest thing in the vicinity, despite that earth was connected with his body. And the lightning struck him right in the forehead, but it didn’t retract immediately. It connected and stayed there, sending countless volts throughout his body, frying everything within him, and that Kusanagi sword inside of him only made it worse. It conducted the electricity so well and became red-hot. Orochimaru would be shrieking, but his uvula was one of the first things to rupture, and his tongue was practically seared to dust. His eyeballs exploded and gelatinous fluid rolled down his cheeks for the moment it took to burn up, his blood vessels exploded, and surely his brain must have melted while the rest of this was happening. 

“Sasori, my man!” Deidara half-shouted over the horrific sound of a man being electrocuted. That feral grin widened on Dei’s mouth. “I didn’t know you were so humane, UN!”

Humane? _That_ caught Sasori’s attention.

So he had you kill the water and intensify the murderous current of lightning through Orochimaru’s body. He was allowing you to do one thing, and that was regulating your chakra. He could do it for you, but you had better control over your own energy than he did. However, should you try to turn the intensity down, it wouldn't work. A droplet of blood edged out the corner of your mouth at the strain.

Then, when he was positive that Orochimaru was no longer alive, he twitched a finger and right away you ended the technique. Even Sasuke had been captivated. All life seemed to of stopped to become absorbed in the brutal show of power. They thought Orochimaru was a freak. But apparently you were just as bad.

Well you _did_ enjoy yourself quite a bit when doing that. Even if the Puppet Master was manipulating you. But Sasori wasn’t finished, and neither were you. He figured it wisest to make sure that there would be no way Orochimaru could revive. While ignoring the stench of fried flesh, boiled blood, charred bone and sizzled hair, he came up with a way for you to dispose of that troublesome body. 

Your hand formed into a fist, and Sasori searched for a way to trigger the symbol the symbol that must be ‘strength’. Once he figured a way how, he had you ram a fist into the ground while combining it with Earth to make a large fissure in the ground. He also mixed Fire with it once the spike of rock started to sink downwards into the crack opened under it, and the rock melted in the intense heat…taking Orochimaru down with it, and completely incinerating his body. Then the fissure closed once you lifted your aching fist from the ground and made more handseals to close the fracture.

Sasori didn’t let you wait around though. He made you move and get out of sight of everyone else, dashing behind the large rock formation and then running off beyond that to try and put the horseshoe canyon between yourself and everyone else out here. Deidara flew them in a roundabout route towards the back of the canyon so that no one would actually see that it was them. He was amazed that they managed to go unseen until the very end, when only Orochimaru saw them both, presumably. 

You were hyperventilating as Sasori forced you to run your exhausted self along, if he took those strings off you for a split second you’d collapse. It was sheer willpower and his chakra strings that were holding you up. Nothing else.

 

“Should we—“ Sakura began, healing a scorch mark on her arm that Sasuke left there with his chidori. Yamato shocked her and Naruto and Sai with a loud, sudden answer. “NO!” He yelled. 

“But she’s so weak, it would be--” Sai began, but went quiet at the look on Yamato’s face. He was alarmed. And he wasn’t about to give his reasoning out in front of a very shaken Kabuto and also in front of Sasuke, whom was acting as their enemy.

You had meanwhile reached the distination Sasori aimed to get you to before letting go of the strings. You dropped where you stood, body so weak from the fight that you could hardly make yourself move. Blood continually streamed from your mouth, and you tried swallowing some of the red back down to re-moisten your dry throat. Disgusting as it may sound, blood was the only liquid you had available, and you didn't trust the guys to help you drink, assuming they noticed you were parched. 

Deidara landed his clay bird then hopped off and picked you up carefully bridal-style. You looked up at him from under your eyelashes, appearing weak and helpless and in intense pain. To say that you ached all over was an understatement. 

“I think you overdid it, un.” Deidara informed the redhead, whom said nothing. “Here, you hold her so she doesn’t fall off. Let’s get outta here, un.”

“Did you see her get the ring?” Sasori asked quietly, taking you from Deidara and figuring a way to hold you so you wouldn’t fall. He settled for resting you on his lap against his chest, your head on his left shoulder. Sasori wrapped his arms around you firmly. 

Deidara settled down behind the neck of the large clay bird of prey then turned and looked over his shoulder at you, then twisted to see back the way you came from. There was still a faint crack in the ground, it was smoking a little.

“If she didn’t, it’s too late now, un.”

Sasori did not reply, and they took to the sky and flew back to Akatsuki headquarters, where you were allowed to rest and recover.


	10. Karma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is plenty of training to be done. You try to evaluate your weaknesses, and meanwhile Sasori neglects to mention something which may or may not have a direct impact on your immediate future.

Karma

 

Purple eyes fluttered open after a span of hours. You had not taken as long to recover as you did after resurrecting Deidara. It took you a moment to shake off the groggy feeling that made your limbs feel like they were made of wood. Then you noticed that you were not alone.

Sitting at your bedside in a chair that he brought into the room, Deidara had been waiting for you to awaken. He was playing with some clay and already what looked like a collection of delicate and intricately designed clay butterflies and dragonflies were massed in his lap. It was likely that these were a product of extreme boredom.

“Deidara?” You asked sleepily, rolling over onto your side to look at the artist. He smirked at you. “You’re lucky Saiya, I would’ve blown these up if you slept much longer. Un.” 

You cocked an eyebrow. “Something tells me you’ll blow them up anyway.”

He surveyed the curving line of your form lying on its side under the sheets without your noticing. Not that he tried to hide his interest. “I will, yeah. Art is a bang.”

You smiled a little as you sat up and then got out of bed, then paused to consider the tangled heap of sheets and the thick comforter mashed against the wall. It was kind of warm in this room; you had to of pushed it off in your sleep.

“So Deidara, mind telling me why you’re in my room?” You asked at last, deciding to leave your bed a mess and walked to where you kept your clothes. You still didn’t put all of your things away, with the exception of a few belongings you set here and there on your first day. You did not want to settle in completely unless there was a guarantee you’d be staying.

Deidara eyed the contents of the pile atop the desk before saying, “You were pretty roughed up from back there so Leader wanted someone to watch you until you got up. Konan was here before me but she had a mission to do, un.”

“I see.” You answered. “Was I out long?”

“Hell if I know, un.” There was laughter in his voice. You looked over your shoulder at him then shrugged and rummaged through your bag of clothes.

“You should unpack you know.” Deidara said. “Stay awhile. Un.” 

“I wasn’t planning on it until I was holding one of those cloaks in my hands.” You told him, sounding grimmer than you intended. “There were no guarantees after all.” 

“About that. Leader wants you to give a report of your mission. Just so you know, we’re always supposed to do that. But he’ll be a little pissed when he finds out you didn’t get the ring, just to warn you. Un.”

“Oh, you mean this ring?” You flipped it into the air and caught it behind your back, then turned around and held it up to the light. “He certainly kept it well polished.” You examined it. “‘Sky’, huh?"

Deidara didn’t even suppress the smile that broke out onto his face. “When’d you get it? I didn’t see. Sasori didn’t either, hn.”

“Serves you two clowns right, I didn’t see _you_ guys until it was too late to meet up and plan something out!” You teased.

“Excuse you?” Deidara said, blinking and then staring at you. “You’re the one that ran off early, un!”

“Yeah yeah, details.” You tried to drop the topic now, but Deidara was now interested in it.

“So why’d you go so early anyway?” He asked after a moment of forming the wings of a butterfly.

“Mmm, if I had to say…” You began. “…I wanted to have done with it. Simple as that.”

Deidara looked up at you through wisps of his blond hair, a brief smirk twitching at his lips before he picked up one of the carefully formed clay insects. 

“Deidara?”

“Nn?”

“If you’re going to blow those up, do it in Sasori’s room not mine. My room isn’t exactly neat as it is.”

“Is that how you repay the people who help you, Saiya?” He asked amusedly.

“Nah, he’s just funny when he’s mad. And besides. Now that he’s human, you can explode stuff while he’s sleeping and really piss him off. He will now know the many joys of humanity. Like sleep deprivation…and those days where you can’t get enough to eat…and...oh, what’s another one..”

“Morning wood?” Deidara supplied, donning his trademark wisecracking grin. You snorted and went into the bathroom to regulate the temperature of the water for your shower. “Well Deidara-kun…” You came out of the bathroom. “Unless you want to see me strip, I suggest you leave. I need to take a looong shower.” 

“Then I guess I won’t be going anywhere for awhile. Un.” 

You must’ve been blushing after that translated in your head, because Deidara’s grin turned into a vaguely evil smirk for making you blush. 

Well. You _did_ offer.

“Didn’t you just get your ocular implant the other day or so?” You asked casually.

“Yeah, why?”

“Wouldn’t want it to get melted out of your skull now would we? I mean, seeing me naked would really put a strain on the lens, real and fake. I don’t want to be the thing that made you go blind Deidara.”

“Oh let me be the judge of that. It’s my risk to take." 

You turned away from him, knowing that this would encourage only an even deeper blush. “Flattery doesn’t get you everywhere you know.” You informed him sternly, trying to keep your voice level. What was this? Why was his insistence affecting you? Only two people were capable of doing that and he was now one of them. Sasori was the other.

There was a rustling sound, and Deidara had swept all the little sculptures up into his hands and then pocketed them on the inside of his black and red robe. He walked up behind you and leaned close for a whisper. You could feel his lips brushing slightly against your ear, felt his breath on your skin and you could smell him…some pleasant, unrecognizable scent mixed with the earthy smell of clay. Maybe it was his shampoo?

“You could be my muse, _Saiya-chan_ , or something else…maybe.” And the sense of closeness was gone after his voice passed into your ears. He ambled off towards the door and placed a hand on the knob. “Don’t forget to report to Leader. And bring the ring, hm.” He left, closing the door softly behind him, not being loud for once in his life.

You stood rooted to the spot. You still dwelled on his voice, how quiet he had been when he whispered to you, how your name paired with a new honorific just rolled off his tongue, that intriguing scent, his warm breath on your skin, the barely-there contact of his lips to your ear, making you flush almost cherry red…was he really the angel your blurred perception told you he was when you were fading out of consciousness after his resurrection? Or some devil that was slowly but surely sinking his talons into your normally unfeeling heart? 

‘Unfortunately’ for you, there were two such he-devil creatures with their eyes on you. And both of them were in this organization.

After a leisurely shower you got ready for the day and left the room, carrying the late Orochimaru’s ring in your closed palm. You figured that the Leader would be in his usual shadowy room that you were beginning to think of as his office, even though you could not see a damned thing other than his eyes in there, and the faint circle of light that was where a person stood when addressing him. 

But no, this time he was just leaving the room as you turned the corner. You paused and thought for a second before speaking up. “Is this a bad time?” You asked uncertainly.

Pein looked up at you after closing the door, his Rinnegan boring into your purple orbs. 

“No.” He said after a moment. “Report. And make it quick.”

You did not hesitate to launch into the explanation. “After I left here yesterday I encountered a group of shinobi from Konoha, which are referred to as Team Kakashi I believe. I tricked them into showing me where Orochimaru’s fortress was in the badlands and they brought me there under the assumption that I merely had a score to settle with that snake, whom came outside to meet us when he saw us. I fought him and after a time he summoned Manda, Sasori ended up taking control of me to finish the fight because things were spiraling rapidly out of control for a number of reasons I will not explore at present. Relatively early on in the fight I retrieved…this.” You extended your hand out to him, fingers relaxing to reveal the center of your palm, upon which the ring rested. “I got it in the first two minutes of the fight.”

His ringed eyes moved towards your hand, and he stepped towards you, eyes focused only on the ring. But out of his peripheral vision he could tell that you expected him to take the ring from you. Instead he shocked you by taking your hand in both of his and closing your fingers over the gleaming ring. His eyes moved to yours, hands still almost gently cradling your closed fist.

“Work on your areas of weakness.” He instructed. “You are to learn to work with everyone here. Including myself. You are our sole medic now, Gyaku Saiya. Do not show me that this was a poor decision.”

Your heart skipped a beat and you nodded, resigned, then bowed your head respectfully. It was rare when you actually showed some sign of respect towards others. But with his hands covering yours, it was easy to detect the raw power he carried with him in even the tiniest motions. Your fingers tightened around the ring, and Pein lowered his hands and nodded stiffly to you as an acknowledgement before turning and leaving, his voice ringing out through the dimly lit hall as he went away.

“Welcome to the Akatsuki.”

You lifted your head and looked after him. “It is an honor.” You said after a short moment, then turned and were facing Konan, who grinned at you. For real. “Congratulations Saiya.” She placed a hand on your shoulder. “Come with me. I need to get your measurements for your cloak.” Then she glanced at your closed hand. “May I see it?”

You blinked then held up the ring between the tip of thumb and forefinger. She looked at it then sighed. “And to think everyone doubted you. Including me.” Konan turned and led you through the maze of hallways that was growing slowly familiar to you, and said without looking at you, “That ring, you wear it on your left little finger. Hopefully it fits you…but if it doesn’t, put it on and pass some of your chakra through it and it will change to your size.”

It fit okay, but not properly. So per her instructions you focused chakra at your hand until the metal of the ring responded and shrunk to fit you perfectly. You cut the miniscule chakra flow and followed her into a room where there were a few servants. This was the area where the people who were forced to serve the Akatsuki stayed. They’d never see daylight again. This area was far into the hideout.  
A middle-aged woman dressed in blackish-brown robes rose from her seat where she was hemming some clothes and came over with a measuring tape and began taking all your measurements when Konan ordered her to do so.

“So Saiya, how does it feel?”

“To finally have been initiated? It feels good. I went through a lot to accomplish this.” You told her.

“But why did you want this anyway?”

“Hm, a few reasons now that I think of it. I have nowhere to be for one, and another is that I have no means to perfect my arts as a shinobi alone, and aside from that…now that I’m here, now that I’ve gotten to know all of you, I feel like I should be here in this organization. Yeah, we’re a bunch of hardened criminals, I know, no mushiness allowed right? But you asked. And truth be told, those are the reasons I thought of off the top of my head. The bottom line is I have no driving reason to be here. I just…am. Because you guys want me to be here I guess.” 

Konan didn’t have anything to say to that, listening to you ramble on without cause to stop you. She watched you look down at the ‘Sky’ ring on your little finger. In a way this didn't feel real yet, it was all too new. You couldn’t help but wonder if there were a few extra strings attached. Upon sensing her lingering gaze you met her eyes. “What?”

She shook her head as though to clear her mind. “I was just thinking.”

“Might I pry?”

“I was thinking about how the others have their own reasons for joining Akatsuki. They had it all thought out, or some pressing reason was given to them.” She said, a thin hand absentmindedly brushing away some blue strays from a cheek.

You raised a meticulously sculpted eyebrow at her. “Including you?” The servant that doubled as the resident seamstress had you hold your arms up so she could measure your bust size. This did not bother you at all. It was just measurements. So what if a strange woman had her hands on you in places where she had no business being? It was her damn job, and as long as she was doing it because of that reason only you were fine. Oh no you weren’t homophobic or anything, but your sexual preference most definitely leaned towards the male of the specie. You’d been bi-curious for a little while during puberty but now that had passed, you weren't curious any longer. 

Konan was almost startled at your small question, and her amber eyes burrowed into your own which were brighter in the unforgiving lighting of the room. She searched for something in them, something you couldn’t identify.

“Unlike me and the others you just don’t have a really good reason to be here, to your own knowledge.” Konan said, barely evading your question along with your gaze now. She was now watching the seamstress write down some numbers on a small pad of paper. 

“I suppose you could say that, but if it’s bothering you think of it this way: you mentioned that some of us were forcibly given a reason to stay here. Isn’t it the same for me in a way?” You half-asked, half-stated, a faint smirk lingering at one corner of your mouth. 

“How so?”

"I got the impression that saying 'no' wasn't an option when Itachi, Kisame and Zetsu found me.” You shrugged. “I’m guessing that the Leader has much in store for me. So naturally I’m curious what that could be, unless its the obvious stuff.” Then you paused and chuckled. “That’s another reason for you. How many do I need before they all add up to one sound reason…such as the one you must have?”

Konan sat down and lowered her head, staring at the ground. She rested her elbows on her knees, two fingers pinching the bridge of her nose as if she had a sinus ache. She had forgotten how sharp you were. You were far more perceptive than you let on. This fact troubled her a bit, making her think back to her past and also serving to make her realize that you were probably purposefully withholding information about yourself that might be useful when a person is _attempting_ to tread lightly around you on certain topics.  
But she was spared the need to dodge another verbal volley, because the seamstress stepped between the two of you in order to make eye contact with you. “Saiya-sama, I will bring your uniforms to your room later.”

You locked eyes with the woman, and nodded your head once very slowly. You were unaccustomed to being referred to in such a respectful manner. In your childhood home, the help was neither seen nor heard, and your younger blood relatives hardly deferred when addressing you by name. 

“Uh…” You looked at the small clock sitting beside a basket of needles and randomly colored bobbins. “I better get going on lunch.” You informed Konan, who rose from her seat and looked at you. “You’re welcome to come with me if you want.”

“I would but I have some things to do before then.” She responded.

“Fine by me.” You left the small room, door swinging ajar behind you. The kitchen was a few minutes away from this room, but you arrived quickly and were cooking up a storm, no pun intended. Deidara had been drawn to the kitchen along with Sasori, the pair of them bickering relentlessly over their views on art, per usual. It was the same argument over and over again. But they halted in their tracks when they saw you standing at the island, whisking ingredients in a large bowl, your hair bound back with an indigo bandana. You paused and blinked up at them. “What?”

“Uh...it’s just…you’re…cooking. Un.” Deidara observed awkwardly, watching you get a bottle of booze out of the walk-in. 

“Well spotted.” Sasori sneered acidly. He was bitter over their argument. 

“Yes I am. And it’s in everyone’s best interests…I’ve tossed out the ramen. There’s more bento boxes made up in the fridge if you’re too hungry to wait.” You informed them as you opened the bottle of alcohol and poured yourself some. 

“What is that?” Sasori asked trying to avert the conversation to something different.

“This?” You held up the bottle. “Want to try some? “ You took out two glasses for them. “Help yourselves. But don’t let it touch your tongue.” 

Deidara shrugged and went to pour himself some. “Good stuff?”

“ _Good?_ Hah! It’ll make you believe in Jashin.” Then after a moment’s pause, you added, “And unicorns.”

Sasori snorted derisively and disdainfully poured himself some before Deidara wrapped a clay-roughened hand around the neck of the dark green bottle. The redhead beside him poured some of the liquid into one of the shot glasses then tossed it back, and almost choked. “Guh...!” 

“Drink too much of it, and you’ll be counting ceiling tiles.” You informed him with a satisfied smile. 

It was Deidara’s turn to scoff. “Hah Sasori, my man, you can’t possibly have an alcohol tolerance as you are, un.” He poured himself some and then drank the fiery liquid down. His azure eye widened and he nearly dropped the glass, a hand flying to his throat, his other hand slamming down onto the hard surface of the island between the three of you, wincing visibly.

You laughed wholeheartedly and turned to the stove and added some chopped vegetables to a steaming pan. The various scents rising from the pots and pans on the stovetop floated up into the air and created an absolutely delicious smell through the kitchen/dining area. “Appears that I’m the only one here that can handle her liquor.” 

Sasori and Deidara locked gazes, sharing mutual disbelief mixed with a dash of embarrassment. Then they looked at your back a little contemptuously.

“Well ain’t that just embarrassing as hell.” Hidan’s voice made them stiffen and turn, mortified. He strode across the room exuding an air of confidence even as he now held the bottle in hand and examined it, then grabbed himself a shot glass and poured some up to beneath the top. “Hidan…” Sasori began, warning threaded in his tone, but the Jashin worshipper ignored him and knocked back the full amount of his shot glass, only to choke and sputter, eyes wide in shock the second the fluid touched his tongue and throat. But at least he enjoyed the burn.

“What…the fuck…is this…crap..” He gagged, eyes watering since he drank too much of it in one pass. You glanced over your shoulder. “Oh, something we drink back in the Grass Village.” You mentioned offhandedly. “Like it?” 

“F-fuck, yes.” He stammered. 

“Masochist.” You accused in a low mumble that was half-lost under the sound of something simmering on the stove.

“Yes he is, un.” Deidara confirmed. He poured himself a little more of the deadly drink and this time swallowed it carefully, not letting it touch his tongue at all. It still stung but it was more tolerable this way. 

“And to think…” You began, turning to the island, taking up a large knife to chop an onion with. “…that’s the weak stuff.”

The three of them watched you until you stopped chopping and blinked up at them. “What?”

“Are you kidding, un?”  
“If you think that’s strong you should try the stuff my family used to make. Since most people in my clan weren’t shinobi, they built a huge wine cellar and have been refining our own brand of liquors ever since. Very profitable, and does wonders for building alcohol tolerance. I’ve been drinking since I was very young.” You told them matter-of-factly. "I'm so used to it I've hardly gotten drunk in my life."

“I see.” Sasori said, musing naughtily on the idea of getting you plastered. What would Saiya be like when drunk? He’d love to see, it might be very interesting! And maybe very fun too. Eheh.

“So why the hell are you cooking anyway?” Hidan asked lazily, and poured himself more to drink before wandering over to the dining area. He flopped down in a chair and relaxed there, looking back over to you while running his hand over his slicked-back white hair.

“Because I like to cook and now that I’m officially here, all I refuse to tolerate eating fake ramen all the time. It just isn’t right. With how much I’ve seen you all eat that garbage I’m surprised you all aren’t canary yellow."

Hidan gawked openly while Deidara grinned and Sasori raised an eyebrow.

“I am the resident medic now anyway.” You continued. “So I have to keep an eye on everyone’s health.” You put a stack of dirty dishes in the sink for the servants to clean up. “It’s still weird as hell to leave things in the sink.” You mumbled guiltily. Deidara folded his arms behind his head and went to the table. “Well get used to it, un.”

You put food on the table. “Help yourselves.” You said, sitting down and filling your own plate. They did. Even the silent Sasori found himself ravenous.

Others drifted in and out of the kitchen, and you were one of them; now you went to your room to put all your belongings away properly and make your bed, then you rummaged through the satchel of ninja toys you had and found a bunch of kunai and shuriken and took them up and left the room to head out and start training. After your fight with Orochimaru you found that there was still tons of room to improve. So now it was back to racking your brains to remember what your past senseis at the Grass Academy told you about taijutsu and other things. They had mentioned that you were okay in those areas, but only good enough to pass the exams in normal standing. The medical field was your forte and next to perfect chakra control was right there along with it.

But now you were ranked as an S-Class rogue and you needed to brush up on each skill. You were now so well off in the medic field that you could focus all of your attention on your weak points. There would be no settling for ‘good’. You were going to get next to perfect, with or without help, but you aimed to be completely self sufficient. If you had your way, Sasori would never need to help you again.  
Hours passed and the sun drifted from its high point to a lower setting. The sky was morphing from periwinkle blue to a myriad of color. It must be drawing nearer to dinner time but you were far too absorbed into your training to be bothered with leaving for the kitchen. There were bento boxes in the fridge anyway. 

The location you chose for training was wonderful. It was nicely secreted away like headquarters; and obviously was used by the other Akatsuki members for training like you were now. When you went to yank some kunai out of one of the larger trees ringing the clearing you noticed that the bark was cut to shit by the countless days and tireless nights of target practice. 

Your purple eyes were becoming nearly black in the dusky remainder of sunlight, and damn it…so were the bags under your eyes! Now that you had stopped briefly after hours upon hours of strenuous training you felt exhaustion, weakness and faint nausea brought on by your undeniably empty stomach. The fact that you hadn’t been drinking any water while training out in the unwavering sunshine was likely what caused the nausea. 

Being the medic you are, you knew it would be silly to push yourself any further. Yes you had to be strong and press against the limitations, but you also needed to keep healthy for the sake of not only yourself, but the others. So you went to the kitchen and grabbed one of the few bento boxes left over in the walk-in refrigerator. You made a mental note to set some time aside and make more of them. They were going rather fast considering you just made about twenty of them not long ago. Oh well.

“Ah. Saiya.” A deep, masculine voice of growing familiarity attracted your attention. Your tired, dark orbs flickered towards the Leader, Pein. You had no idea how long he had been here. 

“Hello to you too.” You muttered, and then picked up a mini rice ball with your chopsticks. 

“I wondered where you were.” He said, then set off towards the fridge, moving at a glacial pace. 

You raised a slim black eyebrow and swallowed your mouthful of food. “I didn’t know I was missed.”

“What were you doing?” He questioned pointedly from just inside the refrigerator. 

“I was following orders. You told me to work on my weak points so I am. I just came in from that clearing outside. Besides. I’m not too keen on letting Sasori control me again. I’d rather be able to hold my own, thank you very much.” 

He almost chuckled at that, but when he next spoke you heard dry amusement drifting upon his tone. “And you expect to iron out all your problems without aid?” 

“Well, yeah.” You would have asked ‘what's it to ya?’ but seeing as how this is the Leader, you decided to keep your yap shut. All the times you spoke to him he seemed fairly even-keeled and vastly calmer than any of the others, but something told you he wasn’t the man you wanted to cross. He isn’t at the head of the Akatsuki for nothing.

“We shall see.” He said.

You watched him leave the fridge with nothing but a bottle of sake. He seemed a little weary himself, but he concealed his fatigue very well. “So did you need me earlier or something?” You finally asked.

“It was nothing major.” He admitted. 

“Well now you know where to find me anyway.” You said, and nudged the rest of your vegetables around their respective compartment in the bento box before you. Ordinarily you had no problem with eating your veggies but right now the sight of them almost repulsed you. 

“I take it you will be there often?” He had drunk a quarter of the large bottle of rice wine by now. It was not possible for you to identify whether or not this was normal behavior for him.

“Yeah. It’s been a very long time since I’ve worked on anything like this, elemental ninjutsu, taijutsu and the sort. It feels like I’m cramming for genin exams all over again.” You admitted, pushing your bento box away and resting your elbows on the table, pressing your hands to your face and squeezing your eyes shut to close out all the light.

“For your sake, you'd better be joking.” Pein deadpanned. 

You peeked out from between your fingers at him. He was standing at the island, drinking his bottle of sake. What was this burgeoning aura of familiarity? It was easy to tense up and watch yourself around Pein, but he felt so...close. Like you've known him for years, but despite your photographic memory, you couldn't recall this man in front of you. In an attempt to shake it off, you switched the subject.

“Are you trying to get hammered?” 

He turned his head in your direction, Rinnegan boring into you even at this distance from across the kitchen. “....”

You blinked and got up and put your box in the sink atop the small mound of other used bento boxes.

“No comment? Alright.” You walked past him and headed out of the kitchen. “Night.”

He still said nothing and merely watched you leave, shamelessly using those highly powered eyes of his to look you over as you walked out. He had to wonder how much your solo training was going to pay off. Sasori and Deidara reported before you did, and both of them corroborated your story, but Sasori's report was the most interesting of the two, as he gained valuable insight when using you as a living doll. He admitted to Pein that figuring out your abilities, even for one whom was familiar with elementals, was hard. Your very chakra rebelled against it, but in the end, it could be manipulated. For anyone with a modicum less of the expertise that the Puppet Master boasted, it would not have been possible to destroy Orochimaru. Pein reasoned that the sole reason why Sasori had trouble manipulating your Runes was because he isn't you, cut and dry. You are a being with will. _Will_ is the first thing Sasori takes away from his marionettes. 

 

Time passed.

 

Weeks had gone by, and you trained relentlessly and improved, but you had no one to match yourself against to measure your real progress. Tobi would bother you whenever he got a chance but mainly he was in and out on some mission he wouldn’t speak to anyone of. He was nice to you and all but you were so glad he didn’t have the time to practically attach himself to your hip like he did when you were working on your first mission. Kisame was usually out with Itachi hunting for both of their jinchuuriki. But whenever they were around for longer than one day; it was because they were injured. Mainly you only got to have a decent conversation with either of them when you were healing them. Itachi wasn’t quite as silent as he appeared to be at first. Perhaps he was warming up to you the tiniest bit.

Deidara and Sasori were around more than the others and Deidara had taken to bothering you whenever he got a chance. But he was also one of the few who had already filled his quota and only ended up leaving when Sasori dragged his sorry ass out the door to hunt his own jinchuuriki, since Sasori had nearly no leads on it.

Hidan and Kakuzu were scarce as hell and the less you saw them, the better. You hardly spoke to them and therefore barely knew them. Pein didn’t have any missions for you yet. Konan was usually bustling around herself, and Zetsu avoided you as though you were the black plague. So all you really _could_ do was train, cook, and heal people whenever you had to. But one tough day of training brought a surprise. When you whirled to block the attack of your clones behind you…instead of being met with the sight of one of your doppelgangers, you saw shaggy garnet locks, flawless skin and shimmering hazel eyes lit by the relentless afternoon sun.

“Sasori?” You asked aloud in surprise. In his left hand, he held a kunai, which is what he parried your own with…but his right hand drew a needle from within his black and red robe, and wrapped his arm around his front to reach behind him on his opposite side and stab your only other clone just as it was going silently for one of his pressure points. It poofed into nothingness.

“Sasori since when are you interested in taijutsu?” You inquired casually, dropping a few more pounds of pressure behind your dark metal kunai before tensing slightly and leaping backwards, flipping once in the air and then landing a good distance away from the virulent ventriloquist. 

“Since it became imperative to my survival.” He told you coolly, and stepped into a more defensive stance while you quickly assumed an offensive one. “Ladies first.”

You waited.

Behind Sasori, sitting under a tree was Deidara, and he exploded with laughter after a full minute elapsed. “Hahaha, that means you Sasori, my man!”

Sasori resisted the desperate impulse to shoot the blond in the head with envenomed knives, which was good for him because the second you sensed the small conflict within him, you moved and flitted out of sight. 

The redhead barely escaped a rain of senbon from above and he moved and slid, placing a hand on the ground to keep his balance as he skidded away, only to be forced to avoid a fist in the gut from an angle he wasn’t quite expecting you to appear at.

Deidara, whom never had the luxury of being able to place himself in a tricked-out puppet with every bell and whistle you can get for offense and defense, saw that both of you were very inexperienced. He was a long range fighter but he made a point to integrate close-range tactics into his training. Deidara could parry some of the riskiest attacks with only a kunai held between his teeth, and it was amazing he could do something like that in the first place because most people aren’t faced with the need to plan out a way to fight should both of your arms go missing. He knew it was a very real possibility that a foe would go for ‘disarming’ him so he would become nearly helpless, since it would seem that he’d be more useless than any other shinobi without his hands. If he could only use his clay in a fight, and usually he was able to, a foe was usually lulled into a false sense of security that he didn’t have _much_ else up his sleeves. Dei had absolutely no choice but to become as proficient as possible at close-range combat as he was with long-range.

Sasori was having a hard time managing to land a hit on you; all he was able to do was keep himself away from your attacks. You were quicker than most even without the use of the glyphs on your hands. It was never a secret that you relied on your speed as a means to keep yourself out of harm’s way as a medic. You were skilled in evading damage, but on the other hand you were inexperienced at dealing out the hurt. You were more apt at rendering a foe paralyzed and poisoning them beyond repair. Yet he was wary. If you were to get serious he’d have to take out one of his puppets, but you were a bad opponent for him. Not only would you be able to avoid his puppets but you’d be able to get around _them_ and attack _him_. So, he deduced that the one thing he had on you was experience. It's the same reason that Sakura couldn't carry out a battle with him on her own, and Chiyo had to step in. It took two of them to win the day. And there's only one of you. You could even see it in his eyes. It was intimidating…that _look_ he possessed, the one that told you he had been through _so much_ more than you had and survived, the cold, hard stare of an experienced veteran. It suited him well. 

You fought back the urge to gulp and back off a little, but instead pressed the attack and kept bombarding him. There was one other clone you made not long ago and it was also sending a hail of senbon, shuriken and kunai upon him. If you could keep this up, he wouldn't be able to touch you.

Sasori was getting pissed off but did not let it reflect in his appearance. Still, Deidara could tell. You were even more agitated if possible; he was defending himself too well. It was a war of the wills at this point; who would snap first and pull something else out? A puppet perhaps, or maybe a sigil?

“Whoa, whoa stop it already, un.” When neither of you listened he sent a clay dragonfly between the two of you and focused, it exploded and both of you jumped away and landed far away from one another and glared at Deidara in tandem. 

“You two are doing it all wrong, un.” He explained, and then moved closer. “Listen. I hate to break it to you guys but…you both suck, un.”

“H-hey.” You protested weakly, and Sasori’s glare only intensified, making Deidara feel a degree warmer under the sun and his black Akatsuki mantle. 

“And you’re any better?” You bit out sourly.

“Damned if I’m not, hn.” 

You raised an eyebrow and threw a glance in Sasori’s direction, whom wasn’t protesting at all to what his partner declared. He knew Deidara wasn’t joking. The Puppet Master knew that the blond could back up his talk.

“So Mister Teapot, are ya going to stand there and criticize or are ya going to help?” You snapped, dropping all attempts to sound proper. Deidara blinked and looked down at his side, where one hand was mindlessly planted against his hip. He dropped his arm down to his side and leveled a much more somber gaze from you to Sasori. “I dunno if I want to help _now_ , un.”

“Fine, then I’ll go find me someone who _actually_ knows what they’re doing because clearly you’re—“Muscles reflexively coiled and you sped to the side to avoid a flying explosive butterfly. 

“KATSU! KATSU! KATSU!”

All those little explosive insects he made back in your room at your bedside were tossed after you, and the manner in which you avoided every single blast drew Sasori and Deidara’s eyes as artists. Your body maneuvered through the onslaught with unstudied fluid grace, feet barely touching the ground…as thought you were in flight, you wove around and around to avoid every attack in a dangerous dance where one slip-up would send you down a road of agony. Good thing you weren’t making any mistakes, or Deidara, hotheaded as he was being at the moment, would blast one of your arms or legs straight off of you.

Before either of them could fully register what happened, Deidara was laying on his back with the edge of your wakizashi so close to his jugular that if he gulped he’d slice his own throat. A very compromising situation had developed quicker than the eye can blink. You were leaning down over him; straddling him with your knees pinning his hands to the ground. You were not even worried that his palm-mouths might try to sink their teeth into you because your knees were not only protected by the sturdy fabric of your pants, but since it’s your knees, there really isn’t much in the way of flesh to bite into.

“I assume,” You began, “That this is _one_ reason why we travel in pairs?”

Deidara didn’t speak. He was staring warily down his cheekbone and straining to keep an eye on the meticulously sharpened blade at his throat. He felt your hand leave his shoulder, no longer pinning him down. You patted him on the cheek and got up. 

Deidara’s single azure eye rotated towards Sasori, who had been just as absorbed into this as he had been. The two shared an unreadable expression even as Deidara collected himself off the ground. While your back was to him the blond’s left hand stole towards his belt for the unzipped bag of clay. Except it wasn’t there.

He looked down and around, didn’t see it lying in the grass anywhere. Dei gave Sasori a puzzled look, who shrugged. He hadn’t seen where it went either.

Both men looked at you and then advanced towards your slowly retreating back. 

“Saiya?” Sasori asked, voice a little lower than usual. 

“I’m going to get something to eat, I’m famished.” You informed him without turning to acknowledge him properly as you spoke. 

“Saiya, where is my clay?” Deidara inquired sharply. The lack of his usual speaking habit attracted your attention and you paused and turned to them, then held his belt up that a large bag of clay plus his specialty were strung onto. “Watch your wallet while I’m around.” You teased, laughing a bit. “Here.” You tossed it to him then turned on your heel and jogged towards the entrance into HQ.

Deidara caught the bags by the thick leather belt and sent Sasori a somewhat concerned glance. You were quickly out of sight and clearly not wanting to worry about them rushing you from behind. For fuck’s sake, when one is in a criminal organization backstabbing _isn’t_ one of the last things you worry about.

“This’ll be hard, un.” He murmured.

“I agree. Saiya will be difficult to work with if she is going to keep that attitude up.” Sasori assented. 

“Not as bad as some though, un.”

“I suppose it is something we will have to put up with.” The redhead added.

“Maybe not, Saiya is just one of those people who won’t play well with others if crossed by them, un.”

“ _Most_ people are like that Deidara, you idiot.”

“But as shinobi we must put their emotions aside from day one. More people than you think can handle working with the added strain of dislike towards their team mates, un.”

“Yet again; some, not all.”

“Saiya’s still new; give her a chance to get used to this. I’m guessing from the way she acts that she’s used to being the leader, un.”

“This is true. Leader told me that she was well known in the Grass for being the sole reason why certain missions succeeded, not only because of her skills but because of her leadership.”

“And to think Sasori my man, she needs to get used to being bossed around by _all_ of us except when it comes to our health, hn.” Deidara laughed and started foreword, bags of clay now secured back in their usual place. “We shall see how this goes.” Sasori told his partner and walked inside with him. “Saiya isn’t going to be paired with any of us in particular. Remember what Leader said.” 

“Yeah yeah, she is going to be moved around from pair to pair according to mission. And apparently Leader wants her to work closest with _you_ until you’re able to defend yourself up close, un.”

Sasori loosed something akin to a raspy, irritated growl from the depths of his lungs and tossed his head arrogantly to the side so some of his spiky ruby locks were removed from his eyes. “I was about to tell her but she left.” 

Deidara scratched his temple and unintentionally sunk lower behind the collar of his cloak. “Man, I forgot about that. Un.” He admitted almost guiltily, an ‘oh, _that_ is what I forgot’ expression melding with his features. 

“…” Sasori went silent; his pride clearly wounded over the fact that Leader decided he needed the team medic to himself until he wasn’t helpless on his own. ‘Sasori’ and ‘helpless’ had never gone in the same sentence before in his life. He’d been called a lot of things before…’weak’ wasn’t one of them. But Sasori had only recently managed to excavate every single shattered piece of all his puppets from the wreckage of his past epic battle with Tsunade’s pupil, with the exception of one, the puppet replica of his own body with the spinning blades riveted into its back. He was still assembling them, making additions and subtractions, making his already lethal puppets even more fatal in combat. He intended to change most things around so, should he encounter that pink-haired bitch again, he’d be ready for her and she would _think_ she was ready for him. But in reality, she’d be in for a worse ride than before. Chiyo wouldn't be there to save her.

Leader, adding salt to the man’s wounds, told Sasori he should make up a new poison to soak his puppet’s weapons in and perhaps enlist your aid for this as well. If the two of you put your heads together then surely you’d be able to come up with something unprecedented in the world of man-made venom. 

Meanwhile you were settled down in the kitchen after a quick shower and was hard at work over the stove. You were whipping up another king-sized batch of items to fill all the bento boxes in the kitchen. 

“Hello Saiya-chan!” A cheery voice greeted, and you spied an Orange-kun through your peripheral vision.

“Hi.” You said. “What’s up?”

“I was going to ask if Sasori spoke to you yet today.” Tobi acquired a more serious tone than was typical of him, so you knew it must be important.

“Uh…no, not really. He’s not exactly a social butterfly.” 

Tobi tilted his masked head and then grabbed the last bento box from the fridge and laid a set of chopsticks across the top of them. “Oh.” Was all he said, then turned and began leaving the kitchen. “He needs to talk to you.”

You blinked at Tobi then shrugged. “He has two legs and a mouth; he can come and speak to me when he wants. I’m not about to seek him out and ask myself, I have better things to do.” 

Tobi blinked under his mask then shook his head and left the kitchen, amused at your disposition. “Bye Saiya-chan.”

“See ya Orange-kun.” You responded lazily. It was obvious that you were tired from training. 

About another fifteen minutes slunk by and you were still taking your time with preparing the food. You’d made dinner as well and were now putting the food in various dishes, then setting them down on the table.

But as you dangerously balanced five dishes and carried them slowly to the table, watching your step, you heard two more voices in the hallway. 

“I’m telling you Itachi, we should've just gone after him!” Kisame exclaimed, clearly irritated over it.

“It was not the right time.” Itachi informed Kisame coolly, and both of them strode into the kitchen, robes whispering around them. “A-aaah..” Your many precariously-balanced dishes were wobbling in hand and you stopped to try and balance them. But Kisame snatched two of them from you and put them on the table. “Thanks…” You mumbled, relieved. “No problem.” Kisame said, then took his sword off and grabbed a chair at the table, sitting in the corner. He propped his sword against the wall then put some food on his plate. “Looks good Saiya.”

“Thanks again.” You chuckled, and sat down as well. You could fill up the bento boxes after dinner. “Where have you two been all this time?”

“Naruto stalking!” Kisame said before Itachi could say a word. “He is a bit difficult.” Itachi added quietly as he poured himself something to drink. “Yeah I’ve seen how well guarded he is. Even out in the middle of nowhere.” You said. “But on the upside it appears that he always has the same people around him so once you know all their tricks it’ll be easy right?”

“I WISH.” Kisame grumbled. “That kid’s slippery as hell! And Itachi’s _picky_ as hell…”

“It is ridiculous to attack if the attempt will clearly end in failure.” Itachi said, matter-of-factly. The Uchiha was unfazed by his partner’s apparent frustration. “Do you guys need any help? I can paralyze them or something.” You offered. “And all I have to do right now is train, I could use a diversion.”

“Sounds good to me.” Kisame shrugged, and dug into his food hungrily. It’d been days since they had a decent meal.

“We will speak with Leader about it. He may already have something planned for you Saiya.” Itachi said with a hint of warning in his tone. You rolled your vibrant purple eyes and helped yourself to another steamed bun. They were really hitting the spot tonight.

“If he does I haven’t the foggiest what it is.” You admitted and then paused. “Wait…Tobi said something about Sasori needing to speak with me. Oh well, we spoke earlier and if he didn’t see fit to mention it then it probably isn’t so important.”

“Ah either way we’ll see what happens, eh?” Kisame chuckled, his irritated tone switched for his usual voice filled with an undercurrent of laughter. “Yes.” You said, putting your plate and glass and chopsticks in the sink. “We will.” After that you went back to working on preparing the boxes and speaking with anyone who floated into the kitchen. 

The rest of the night was uneventful.


	11. Nightfall and Daybreak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Training continues to hammer out any unnecessary weaknesses, and Pein's Rinnegan appears to have a minor issue. The Hidden Leaf reviews the aftermath of their most recent encounter with Akatsuki.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rhig: Finally went through all the tags on this chapter to fix that problem it had with being half italicized. And in any case, about Asuma, I had him written in but that's impossible since he was dead, lol. And Kurenai is pregnant. So I removed that part, it was so small anyhow it doesn't matter. And yes, I am aware that the wall is supposed to be taller than the trees in most areas...lets say there's some kind of high-rise, for the sake of argument.

Nightfall and Daybreak

 

The hour was late and you were outside training in the usual clearing. You had been at it since dawn and only took a break to have a quick lunch and multiple pauses to drink water. Aside from that you did not rest.

At the rim of the clearing just out of your sight stood Konan and Pein together, both huddled into their cloud-printed cloaks. Since it was nightfall your eyeshot was more limited. They could stay safely out of sight in the chilly dark. The moon was hanging in the sky, awaiting its opportunity to shed its sallow light upon the lands, but the sun was settled low on the horizon, lingering as though it were clinging to the edge of life. But it would be reborn again the next morning as always, like clockwork.

Pein and Konan had taken to observing you ‘without’ your knowledge. They had been doing it for awhile now whenever either or both had a chance. “She has improved a great deal in the time she has been here.” Pein remarked softly, shifting so he could rest against the gnarled trunk of a tree. Konan nodded and absentmindedly adjusted her paper flower.

“I agree, she's worked really hard to better herself, Pein.”

“So I see.” He replied. “But she must learn how to work with everybody here. All she has done is act on her own without any assistance with training unless it is forced upon her.”

“I know.” Konan felt a touch guilty. She had been too busy to warn you of it, if indeed it hadn't crossed your mind already. Konan already knew where Pein was going with this; he was thinking of starting to send you out on missions now that you most certainly would be able to hold your own. It had been a long time since Orochimaru was slain in front of a handful of witnesses, most of them from Konoha. Due to lack of activity on your part, you've been out of sight and out of mind with any luck. Except, if they _did_ forget all that you've done, they're bleeding insane. 

“Sasori has neglected to tell her.” Konan said to Pein, whose head turned towards so fast she thought he might get whiplash. “It has been over a month!” Pein growled. Konan held up her palms out in defense. “I’m the messenger. Don’t shoot me.” She lowered her hands. “Sasori holds too much pride in his abilities. I spoke to him on this matter a couple weeks ago when I found him alone. He has been training also, and I tested him; he is better, but not up to par with the others at taijutsu. His strength will always stand behind his usage of the Puppet Jutsu. That’s the reality of it.”

Pein was slightly mollified but this news wasn’t enough to totally placate him. Sasori had defied a direct order. Anybody who lost their edge was lucky they were still here and not left dead. For the payoff in the future, all this was a small price to pay.

“I’d also like to bring up a problem. Itachi and Kisame have been unable to capture Uzumaki Naruto, the Kyuubi. He is being closely watched by two of the legendary Sannin, and not only that, but he is almost always guarded by a handful of shinobi who all possess formidable skills. Naruto himself has been trained by the sannin Jiraiya. Kisame and Itachi can’t easily touch him as he is.” Konan concluded her status report as quickly as she could and took a seat on a convenient rock not far from Pein’s side. "Not without additional support, anyhow." Incredible as those two are, she was right. Pein was relieved that Konan kept on task. He entrusted her with many things and she always made it her business to stay updated on the goings-on here in Akatsuki. It wasn’t too unusual for them to report to her instead of Pein, unless he wished to hear a report in person for some reason or another. 

“Hmm.” His fingers skimmed the piercings between his severe grey ringed eyes, coming to a rest on his chin in thought. He looked up towards where they could see your silhouette going through the motions of a jutsu, but failed to produce a result each time you tried. Once you got a jutsu to work, you practiced on it until you were satisfied enough to change your exercise to something else, such as target practice. Target practice was child’s play, but the reason why _anyone_ in the world did it each day was so one wouldn’t get sloppy. If you kept on top of it you would stay sharp. You made a habit of saving it for your last exercise because it was the easiest and most simple way to wrap up training for the day.

After the pair of them watched you in silence for five minutes Pein spoke up. “Have they requested any assistance?”

“Of course not. But I doubt they’d refuse it, if offered. They aren’t in a position to spurn assistance.”

“Then I will put Saiya on their team.” Pein said.

“Oh?” Konan tilted her head and frowned towards your shape. “I understand. Not only can she adapt her abilities to most circumstances now, she can heal herself and Itachi and Kisame no matter how badly they are injured.”

“I must admit that she is becoming the most evenly balanced person in the group.” Pein assented. Aside from himself, that is. “But that isn’t all. Have you not noticed, Konan?” His powerful eyes were focused completely on you, x-raying every move.

“Noticed what?” 

“What, indeed. Saiya has almost completely erased any habits that every other shinobi struggles to rid themselves of throughout their lives. Some will shift their weight before they strike. Others have different tells, such as twitching a finger or something as small as taking in a deeper breath than usual before they move. But Saiya does none of these things.”

Konan couldn’t see anything but your distant shape in the darkness of the night. “If she wears gloves, she can conceal those symbols on her hands as well, or those would be her tell." He nodded. "For now the fact remains that she will be working with Kisame and Itachi where she is currently needed the most. They are the only ones who know definitely where at least one jinchuuriki is.”

“They’re all very well hidden considering how hated they are.” Konan said, sounding exasperated. “Shall I go tell them to take Saiya with them when they head out tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll go now.” She got up and flitted off to the hideout so she could find Kisame, Itachi, or both. They’d probably be secretly relieved that you were to be sent with them. Both were prideful though; neither may admit it. Pein watched Konan run off and when he turned around, you were sitting on the rock that Konan had been resting on, looking up at Pein where he leaned against a tree. 

“Didn’t see this one coming did you?” You taunted, watching him carefully for a reaction.

He didn’t gratify that query with an answer and didn’t show any signs if your abrupt and well-timed appearance disturbed him. “Saiya. You are doing well.”

“I know you’ve been watching me.”

“If I cared that you knew, we would not be speaking right now.” He pointed out. 

“Alright, alright don’t get your dander up. I come in peace.” You mocked as though he were agitated, laughing and holding your hands up. His ringed eyes concentrated on your shape, but up closer you were a touch out of focus. At his age, any ocular kekkei-genkai would've torn away his vision by now. He was lucky that he was only now becoming farsighted. 

Rather curious at the way he was looking at you, popped up and stood eye-level with him. “Problem?” 

“…” He turned his head away from you, but you would have none of it and grabbed his chin gently but firmly and turned his head towards you, violet eyes pinned to the sight of his Rinnegan. The grey of the outermost ring was turning almost white-silver while the inner rings were turning very dim as well.

“Ahhhh.” 

His eyes focused on yours reluctantly. Up close, way they moved was utterly fascinating. These Rinnegan really are absolutely incredible. But that didn't negate the fact that this ultra high powered kekkei-genkai of his was damaging itself after all the long decades. “You’re using it too much.” You commented.

“Using what?” Pein would rather play dumb and hope you would drop it, but like a slipknot, the more you pull the tighter it becomes. You were not about to forget the topic at hand since it now had more weight to it. “Your kekkei-genkai. I might have no idea what it does, but I can see one thing even in the dark: whatever these eyes of yours are capable of, they are taking a toll on you. I bet you’ll go blind eventually from overusing them. And it’ll happen sooner than later if you keep it up. Every time I see you they look like this except now they are turning whitish, like you have a developing a strange cataract of some type.”

Cataract? _That_ caught his attention. After studying his impassive expression you noticed he was doing what any good shinobi would and hiding his emotions on the matter. “Doesn’t it bother you?”

“….” Pein would not admit it still. Even if he was more or less transparent. Yet, how you were in-tune with his emotions at all was an unforeseen abnormality that only Konan was capable of, to your knowledge. If you concentrated and tried to figure it out, you could tell he was a little rattled right now. “Okay, uh…” You glanced around; making sure no one was around. “Here. Close your eyes.”

“Why?” He was suspicious. You leaned foreword and grabbed his wrists, then pulled him towards your side, making him sit on the rock. You turned to face him and said, sighing, “Trust me?”

“I don’t see why I should.”

A spark of fury flashed across demeanor, but you restrained the urge to give him a stiff left hook upside the head. “I’m doing my fucking job. It’s not like I’m going to put you in harm’s way.” Pein looked suspicious but he closed his eyes finally. He wasn't accustomed to letting anybody close.

“Okay. Keep them closed until I say otherwise.” You made some handseals then placed your hands on each side of his head, pressuring lightly. You moved your thumbs over his eyelids and pressed gently against them, and he could feel a cool sensation spread from your touch. The feeling intensified and he felt like his head had been plunged into a winter lake. He fought to keep his them closed even though he had the desperate urge to allow his eyelids to spring open. You felt that he was struggling. It was your chakra that made his muscles twitch nearly out of his control. His fingers curled slowly into fists. 

“Almost there.” You murmured. “Hang in there; I know it’s hard to resist."

He gritted his teeth in frustration. The cold sensation turned more into a pins-and-needles feeling, which in turn morphed into actual pain like those same pins and needles were being stabbed into his flesh up to their blunt ends. 

Then the sensation of a thousand needles slamming into his skul changed to a bizarre tickle. The cold lessened and became warmth. He began to feel more pleasant and slightly drowsy, relaxed and more comfortable. The touch of your hands to his face and the sides of his head was gone. “Okay. Open your eyes now. Slowly, if you please.”

He did. At first when he opened them he was looking downwards towards your lap where you were sitting before him. Your hands were encircled by tendrils of chakra that looked like glowing silver smoke. It offered an eerie light in the shadow of night. The moon up above was a thin crescent that offered too little to see by.

Yet he noticed that his vision had been amplified to exactly as it had been when he was young. Pein had not realized how dim his vision had become with wear and tear. You unsheathed your highly polished wakizashi with one glowing hand and held it up like a mirror so he could see his own eyes. Even though they were still grey and purple-tinted in color they actually looked far more vibrant and full of life compared to how they were when he last saw his own reflection. 

His eyes focused on you behind the reflective blade, a question flooding them openly. For once, he dropped his guard, if only for the moment to pass.

“How?” You asked for him, and smiled. “Years ago, before the massacre, three Uchiha clansmen came to my hometown seeking help. Because the Leaf’s best medic Tsunade was nowhere to be found, they had to find a medic willing to work with them, and traveled to accomplish this. That wound up being me, because everybody else thought it impossible.” You laughed a little, a bit embarrassed at the memory. “They paid me quite a lot of money to develop a technique to save their eyesight, even if it meant they’d never be able to use the Sharingan again. They used to work in the ANBU Black Ops and overused their Sharingan to begin with. So they were lucky I was able to develop a jutsu to heal the damage at the price of about a quarter of my full chakra at the time. Since I had to do it three times I ended up in the hospital myself until I recovered all my chakra, but in turn that inspired me to invent a way to heal my own chakra at will.” 

Pein was staring at you unblinkingly. He used to blink often before now but he just didn’t feel the need to blink so much. Such a small thing, yet so not normal, and you noticed it right away. 

“What? I’m talking too much again aren’t—“

You were silenced because he put a finger to your lips, abruptly cutting you off, then leaned up and placed on kiss on your bare forehead, a hand on the back of your neck. The action made you flush pink like an awkward child, unsure of how to respond, but something about it was...well... _nice_. And again, momentarily familiar. When he drew back and saw your blush, amusement played across his handsome features and he let go to stand up. 

You picked up your wakizashi, which was sitting across your lap, and stood up and followed him into the hideout, sheathing the short blade as you moved. You still had no clue what to say to him, but unless you were wildly incorrect, that was a 'thank you'. Why he chose that method instead of, oh, say, the _normal_ way, was unbeknownst to you. “Saiya you are to work with Itachi and Kisame to capture the Kyuubi.” He informed you, his cool and collected demeanor once again presiding. As if nothing transpired.

“Yes’m.” 

He paused and looked at you which made you backpedal a bit under his intense gaze. “I mean, ‘Yes sir.’.”

At that he merely headed inside. Both of you parted ways and went to your separate rooms for the night.

Time passed.

The next morning you were up bright and early, but you had half forgotten what Pein told you the night before. So _had_ the fact risen to the surface of your mind that you were to head out with Itachi and Kisame today, you would’ve actually donned your Akatsuki uniform instead of a pair of cargo pants that were so dark grey they were black in weak light, and the usual black hooded shirt with the pointy flower-ish Gyaku symbol emblazoned upon the back. Dressing in a manner that even matched your raven hair and violet eyes was something you were raised to do. You mother was such a girly-girl freak that way; she had to make sure absolutely everything (Oh, yes. _Everything_.) matched perfectly. And since it was a habit she hammered into your skull from day one of your life you hardly dressed any different. 

You were naturally up earlier than most normal people anyway so you made a hearty breakfast and even had enough time to make up something sweet to keep around for anyone who had a sweet-tooth attack. You were halfway through your plate of food and third cup of tea when Itachi came in, onyx eyes dull with morning lassitude. Kisame was a morning person though. Itachi was just one of those that wakes up neutral, and depending on the moods of others in the morning, he is either pleasant for the day or miserable. Good thing you were a morning person also.

“Morning!” Kisame greeted brightly, and landed in a chair. He plated up a ton of food and dug in, starving. 

“Saiya, why aren’t you ready?” Itachi asked lazily. He was presently loading his own plate up.

“Huh?” You let his question marinate for a moment. “Oh! Shit.”

Itachi watched you warily when you poured him some tea just because the teapot was closer to you than him. He had not really encountered you so early in the morning in the months you had been here. Usually you were out training by now. It was nice that you were in a good mood. Itachi had thought that Kisame was the only morning person in this whole place.

“Konan didn’t tell you that you’re coming with us today?” Kisame asked.

“Uh, no…Leader did though.” You admitted. “He mentioned it in passing. Like he was talking about the weather or something.”

Itachi almost snorted at that and drank some tea.  
“I’m almost done; I’ll go get ready in a few. It won’t take me long.” You promised them. Kisame shrugged. Itachi also lifted a shoulder and said, “Meet us by the front entrance in fifteen minutes. And we will probably be gone for a few days, to warn you.”

“Okay.” You finished up your breakfast quickly, put your dishes in the sink and then left the kitchen, moving as quickly as you could without jogging. But as you went through the extensive halls to your room you encountered Deidara and Sasori. “Morning Saiya.” Deidara greeted cheerily. 

“Morning!!” You called over your shoulder, still rushing away. You had nothing packed up so you could leave and now you only had about twelve minutes to pack, change, and get to the entrance.

“Saiya.” Sasori called, turning around. “Stop, I need to talk to you.”

You did stop, but did not turn around. “You could’ve spoken to me about it earlier.” You snarled abruptly. “So you can wait until I get back. Waiting a little longer isn’t going to kill you.”

Deidara smirked at the look of confused surprise that registered on Sasori’s face.

“So then you knew? Why didn’t you—“ However, you cut into his question.

“--Shut the fuck up Sasori I have no time for you right now.” You darted around a corner and vanished from sight. Shit. Ten minutes!

“What got into her, un?” Deidara wondered aloud. Sasori looked pissed to say the least. His hazel eyes were glaring at where you had been standing before you took off.

“I intend to find that out whenever she returns.” Sasori told his partner acidly.

In your room you were packing quickly and efficiently, which took a few minutes, then changing into your so-called uniform took another minute. Konan and yourself wore something slightly different from the men of course. Part of it was that you did not wear any white from your knees down, but wore knee-high black boots instead. 

The last thing you grabbed was the hat that finished the ensemble. You snatched it up from where it sat and ran out once you were ready, and thankfully, you were perfectly on time because you caught up with Kisame and Itachi in the hallway on the way to the front entrance.

“Hah, see Itachi? I told you she’d make it.” 

Itachi grunted his reply and put his hat on. Kisame did the same, and you followed suit. It was an annoying thing to wear at first but you quickly became accustomed to it while the three of you journeyed out through the woods.

“So any leads on where he’ll be?” Kisame inquired casually. 

“Mmm, he will likely be found in Konoha.” Itachi answered. 

“That’s where we always look first.” Kisame sighed. “Not a bad place, don’t get me wrong, but we don’t always find him there.”

You listened to them talk but kept quiet for now and kept walking at Itachi’s left. Kisame was on Itachi’s right. 

“Saiya you’re being too quiet already.” Kisame accused.

“I have little to say right now.” You told him.

“So you have no ideas of your own?” Itachi asked you. 

“Hmm nothing much on my mind...” You trailed off and looked thoughtful. Not that anyone could tell with your hat on. “Actually, there _is_ something.” You admitted. They listened, waiting for you to continue.

“When I was hunting down Orochimaru I encountered that Naruto kid and his team. Since Orochimaru is now dead...” You absentmindedly fiddled with the ring on your little finger, using your thumb to adjust it. “…the one that Naruto seeks was that black haired guy that came outside with Orochimaru. I think Naruto called him Sasuke.”

“You make it sound like you had a friendly conversation with the enemy." Kisame laughed.

“Actually, yes. I tricked them into thinking I was lost in the desert with amnesia at first but when the captain of his cell noticed I was lying, I had to pull the wool over their eyes with a genjutsu and pretend to ‘admit’ that yes, I’m a rogue ninja, but I have a score to settle with Orochimaru. I told them I didn’t care what would happen to me in the end. So basically I ended up temporarily joining their cell until we got to Orochimaru’s fortress. I even helped them plan out an ambush, but it was useless in the end since Orochimaru and his cronies just walked right outside when they saw me.”

“’Saw you’?” Itachi echoed.

“There was only one way in and out of the fortress.” You said.

“We have a long way to go before we hit Konoha. Hearing about it might pass the time.” Kisame suggested. Itachi isn't always the best conversationalist, and he wanted to hear the story from you, not from Deidara. Sasori wasn't too likely to speak of it. You shrugged and struck off into an explanation. “As I said, there was only one way in and out of the place. And there was nothing to cover my approach on the way to the entrance. Of course since Orochimaru was a very paranoid person he would have someone on guard duty at all times. 

“It was not the first time I ran into Orochimaru. I have met him a few times on accident while I was on the run, before you all found me. The first time Orochimaru tried to kill me because I was standing right near a fortress of his wondering what some random building was doing in the middle of nowhere, wondering if I could use it. He couldn’t afford having someone know about _any_ of his hideouts. But he failed to kill me and I made him miserable for it every chance I got. Sasuke and…Kabuto I think? They usually wouldn’t help Orochimaru because for one reason or another he wanted to kill me himself. Although once I am pretty sure he gave Sasuke a direct order and he disobeyed it fully.”

“Yeah that’s Itachi’s little brother alright.” Kisame chuckled.

“So anyway I figure that if Naruto isn’t in Konoha he will probably be close to wherever Sasuke is. He and that pink-haired chick Sakura are both highly interested in capturing Sasuke.” You concluded, looking from one male to the other with curiosity written across your overshadowed face. Again, not that they could see it.

“It is very likely. Most of the village has befriended Naruto since they got past his status as a jinchuuriki. He has access to enough manpower to track my brother down.” Itachi said, then added, “I am told he has a strange ability.”

“What would that be?” You asked.

“It has something to do with making a friend out of anyone he encounters in some way.” The Uchiha answered. But he sounded uncertain.

“Tch.” You grumbled. “If he values his friend’s health then he will come with us quietly.”

“Don’t think that’ll be happening.” Kisame informed you. “Many of the Leaf shinobi guard him jealously. We found out the hard way once that he is somewhat close to the present Kazekage, who never lost all of his abilities since we took the Ichibi from him.”

“I realize they’re all quite as hard-headed as he is. Birds of a feather and all that, right?” You chuckled to yourself. “What’s sad is that they seem to think they’ll be able to protect him forever no matter where he goes. But with Naruto always plowing in half-cocked and head-first, he’s bound to bite off more than he can chew one day. He is too impatient. Eventually his friends won’t be able to come to the rescue at the last moment when he is running on the last dregs of his stamina and chakra.”

“But whenever that happens the Kyuubi arises.” Itachi pointed out.

“Hahah, so that must be why he always leaps before he looks!”

“Sorta.” Kisame said.

“I know how badly you two were banged up from your last encounter with him after he went fox-ugly. But it’s okay. Judging from what I’ve seen of him I will be able to disable him completely.” You adjusted your hat a bit as you talked. 

“I have a small plan to begin with.” Itachi said.

“What is it?”

“Saiya, you and I will disguise ourselves as one another.” Itachi began. “They all already know not to make eye contact with me. If they avoid the eyes of the wrong person then with luck they will be tricked into a genjutsu.”

“Hey. What about me?” Kisame intervened.

“Since genjutsu is not your specialty you will act as a diversion for as long as the illusion remains. If and when we fail in confusing them with our switched identities, Kisame may succeed where we do not. According to how the situation develops he can take out anyone he chooses. As for you Saiya…if masquerading as me does not work, then I want you to systematically take their legs and arms out from underneath them and begin with their medics. Disable everyone else however you will and heal us should we be injured. Remember that healing us is your first priority above and beyond disabling the enemy.”

It was so clear to you that Itachi had once been the ANBU Captain in his village, because he sure knew exactly what to do. 

“So the two of you know I can mend your chakra as well as your bodies. Our enemies however will run out of energy so it’s possible to wear them down easier if this takes a very long time. And if Kisame can drain chakra too then it will help greatly in exhausting them. But I have one strict request.” You said.

Kisame glanced over then back ahead. “What’s that?” 

“That once Naruto appears to be reaching the limit where the Kyuubi is ready to manifest, do not aggravate him further. Obviously we can’t risk having the fox to contend with. I have taken an extra precaution should that situation arise but let’s hope we can avoid using it.” You were grim yet satisfied with yourself for taking the time to prepare something extra. You knew right away after healing them from encounters with Naruto wrapped in the fox’s cloak that you would need to devise a way to deal with such demons whenever the others bring you along on missions to capture demons. Now there was no way to test it for sure at the moment of development but you certainly could hope that your theory held true. If not, you’d probably end up in a fight like you did with Orochimaru.

“And what if this ‘precaution’ of yours falters?” Itachi asked flatly.

Sparing him a slightly pointed glare, you sniffed almost arrogantly and spoke, “Then we’ll have an extremely hard time not overdoing it and killing him. I’m guessing that a demon isn’t the easiest thing to knock out.” 

“It’s good to have more than one plan but let’s try our best to make plan A work.” The shark-like one at Itachi’s side grumbled. He wasn’t exactly fond of how this conversation was progressing. You and Itachi didn’t really get along so great, especially after you hunted him down that one day to fix his arm and leg. Itachi had later on that very same week mentioned to Kisame that he knew it was for his own good, but the fact that it happened that way at all pissed him off a little more than it should have. 

You opted to keep your mouth shut for the rest of the journey to Konoha. Since the three of you never bothered to stop for rest you all kept going and made it to the gates in half a day. 

But about an hour before the cell of three Akatsuki arrived at the gates, Kisame interrupted the silence with a small laugh. “Heh heh heh, you don’t think we can just walk in like we did before, do you?”

“I doubt it.” The Uchiha answered, tone hushed.

“Why not try just going over the wall in a more residential area?” You suggested. “We’ll be able to see down into the village from the taller trees.”

“Unfortunately that appears to be the road we will have to take. They should know who we are the second they lay eyes on us.” Itachi said a touch gruffly. Another several minutes, and Itachi instructed you and Kisame to remain hidden while he went in. He cast an illusionary jutsu over himself so he appeared like any normal Konoha hcitizen once he got inside the village. You and Kisame were left to wait until something happened.

Then something very odd _did_ happen. 

You both heard familiar voices intermingled with unknown ones. And bounding towards where you and Kisame were settled in the trees, from rooftop to rooftop to the wall itself was none other than Inuzuka Kiba, Yamanaka Ino, Uzamaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Sai, Yamato…and unfortunately, Hatake Kakashi, followed by other Leaf shinobi. 

“THERE! THERE THEY ARE!”

“Just like that guy said! Man, he’s so lucky to be alive!”

You and Kisame exchanged exasperated glances, then got up and prepared for an encounter with this abnormally large cell of people. Whatever Itachi did worked like a charm. He probably tipped someone off that he had seen two figures cloaked in black and red near the wall, high in the trees on the border of the gargantuan forest.

“Right where he said they’d be.” Yamato commented, jumping into a tree. Sakura pulled her gloves on tight and glared heatedly up at you and Kisame. "I don't know, this isn't right." She told the others, cracking her knuckles. You crossed your arms and looked down at them, remembering that they only knew of one woman in the Akatsuki. Since you were wearing your hat still, you knew they probably figured you were Konan. That is…if they assumed anything at all. 

“You people have a lot of nerve showing up here after what you did!” Ino yelled from her spot at the top of the wall.

Kisame chuckled. “So what if we have?”

“What the hell are you here for?!” Naruto demanded loudly.

You stayed silent and merely surveyed the situation. Dammit. This was not according to plan at all. It was unlikely that Itachi planned on luring so many of them here; but either way you had to accept that hazard. Naruto was almost never allowed out of Konoha on his own.

Kakashi lifted up his hitai-ate so it was spread across his forehead where it is originally intended to be. His closed eyelid parted upwards to reveal the red orb beneath it flecked with three black tomoe. But even as you watched him blink his Sharingan eye, you and Kisame heard Itachi’s voice in your heads. _/I'm on my way back. Do what you both can to separate them, if possible./_

Your expression hardened into an emotionless poker-face and your hands rolled into fists in the shadows of your wide sleeves. Kisame absentmindedly tightened the belt across his shoulders that fastened the Samehada to his back, then reached one hand over his shoulder and gripped the handle of his ridiculously large sword, his off-hand now pinching the rim of his hat and picking it up off of his blue-haired head. 

The group of shinobi across from both of you were preparing for a fight as well. But Kakashi and Yamato wouldn’t let all of them stay to play. 

“Go find the Hokage! Warn her!” Kakashi said to Kiba, whom could get there the fastest on Akamaru’s back. Though he disapproved of this decision, Kiba jumped astride his canine friend’s back and they ran off together, making a beeline for the Hokage’s office building. 

“Ino, Sakura! Hang back and support us!” Yamato ordered. “Hai!” Sakura confirmed. Ino nodded, her body tensing. You could see it from here. Yamato next turned his creepy black eyes on Sai and Naruto. “Sai and Naruto, pair up and be extra cautious. We’re going to have one hell of a fight on our hands." 

“Yeah, I’ll be careful! Believe it!”  
Sai smiled his unpleasant and unnervingly false smile. “I’ll make sure Naruto doesn’t get in over his head.” 

“I don’t know about the one with Kisame.” Yamato half-whispered to Kakashi, voice low so neither of you could hear him speak. You were reading his lips though, and smirked from behind the high collar of your cloak. “Kisame, wasn’t there some hot springs back a mile or so?” 

He smirked and connected with your train of thought. It would benefit him to be near to a water source, even if it could benefit Kakashi as well. “I follow ya. Let’s double back.” You both turned and leapt from branch to branch and sure enough, your numerous enemies followed right after. Yamato shot thick branches of wood out of the ground straight up to impale you, and also made trees bend to his will and try to crush or maim you with their numerous little twigs and branches. The two of you were forced to dodge around every single attack. Yamato was fixated on trying to take both of you out even more than ever once he spied the shimmer of water in sunlight up ahead. 

You dropped down behind the cover of thick foliage for a split second that was just enough time to make a clone. While it moved onward you hid yourself under that same veil of vegetation and Yamato, who was momentarily fooled, kept attacking your doppelganger which acted no different than you had before. 

Once the Leaf ninja all whizzed by over the tree branches above your hiding spot, you bolted up the side of a tree trunk, back-flipped onto a wide branch across from it; then charged after Sakura and Ino who were bringing up the rear of the group. They didn’t even realize you were behind them until it was too late. Ino let out a scream and toppled over the side of a tree branch she had landed on. Her knees had shuriken jammed straight through the backs of them; the stars sticking between the two bones were cartilage acts as a cushion between the two hard surfaces. 

Ino slipped and plummeted, blood tricking through the fishnet around her knees and onto her pale skin. But she wasn’t out of the game yet and you were on it already to finish the job, dropping from your current height in the canopy of the monstrous trees and falling straight down in a nosebleed dive towards Ino. You had to shift your weight in midair and land crouching on a branch below her since she was holding onto a bending branch for her life. You looked up under the rim of your hat from where you were settled on the branch under Ino, the string of beads and bells pierced into the edge ringing softly in a breeze through the forest. You saw blood soak through the fishnet around her knees and then dribble all the way down her leg, pooling and brimming at the top edge of her sandals before it began to sink into and under the material at a sluggish rate.  
“ARGH!” Sakura snarled from up above, chakra building in a balled fist. She followed since Ino was in the most immediate danger now. Her anger burnt too intensely this time. Ino had been attacked from behind, and Sakura hated any form of backstabbing. And damn it, Ino’s her friend! You looked up in surprise but could not dodge her flying fist. She had followed you too closely. 

Except when she hit you…splinters flew, and the tree branch was broken away from the trunk. She witnessed the shimmer of chakra when it erupted over your cloaked form and you changed before the pinkette’s eyes. To her horror, she saw that she had pummeled Ino instead, who was soundly unconscious with a thick river of crimson spilling past her lips and down her chin. A huge bruise began to blossom on her bare midriff and there was the tip of something pinkish-white jutting out of her side. It looked like the broken tip of a rib. 

“No! INO!” Sakura cried in horror, falling next to her. Up above, where Sakura originally thought she had seen Ino, you were hanging onto the branch instead, watching them with eyes she couldn’t see. 

Sakura made a clone of her own which grabbed Ino into her arms, and twisted in the speedy descent down to the leafy ground so that the clone’s back cushioned the unconscious Yamanaka girl’s fall. You pushed your feet against the trunk of the tree and kicked off of it so you could land on the rough side of another huge tree across from it. You stuck to the side of the tree by emitting chakra through your feet like one does when they walk on water. In the distance all you could hear were battle cries, the constant creaking of wood, and the rumble of crashing waves at times. 

But this was no time to dawdle; and you flitted out of sight on your way down to the forest floor where Sakura and her knocked-out friend were. The clone had poofed upon impact to the leafy ground. Sakura knelt beside Ino and tried using the Mystic Hand technique to staunch the bleeding. It was a good thing Ino had strong bones or else she’d be dead from taking the full punishment of such a blow. Her ribcage was busted up into pieces but upon examination, her soft tissues were not beyond repair. Ino would be in the hospital for awhile but she’d live, assuming she received the proper help in time. 

Bouncing between trees on your way down, you formulated what to do next. 

"Ino…” Sakura was very upset, but she straightened and crunched her hands into fists, knuckles popping. Her teal eyes were hardened with resolve and her body tensed as you approached. There was no time to fix Ino any further. “How can you attack someone from behind like that?!” She screamed at you as you vanished from sight in a blur of motion. 

“Like so.” Your voice sounded from behind her and she stiffened and threw a fist where your face should have been, but all she hit was a log that was blasted into matchsticks by the force of her punch. 

Before she could leap out of the way, for she detected you behind her, a horrific sensation caused her to stop: the tip of a blade against her lower back, and an arm around her shoulders now. The hand attached to that arm held a senbon, and it was gently touching a pressure point on her neck. 

"So which one should I go for?” You taunted. “The abdominal aorta? Or…” 

What was up with you? Even when she was able to see you, she was completely unable to tell what you were going to do next. Plus, you were _way_ too fast. And while Sakura herself could maneuver around most obstacles with fair ease, she wasn’t anywhere near as agile as you were. But there was something else. This situation shouldn’t have progressed this far. It wouldn’t have if she was facing anyone but you, some crazy freak from the Akatsuki. There was only one hint as to what your specialty could be, and that was knowledge of the body, perhaps you were a medic. Come on. What normal kunoichi is going to whip out a term like, ‘abdominal aorta’? Most would go with the more common vein; the very large one in the throat. The one that a lot of people don’t know or care what it’s called, but a medic would; the carotid artery. 

“You’re taking too long. I’m waiting.” 

Sakura dare not shift even a little bit. There was absolutely no way she could move quick enough to stop you. And she knew it would be wise not to attempt escape and thus maybe encourage you to cause her worse pain than you were already planning. A lot of missing-ninja are sick that way. 

“Shut. Up.” She spat out bitterly through gritted teeth. 

“That settles it then.” The blade at her back was removed, only to be plunged into a different area on her back, left of the spinal column where the lumbar group is located. Blood didn’t trickle from her like it did from Ino. Instead, it came out in a heavy crimson wave. Her eyes widened even more when you pierced into a soft spot that completely paralyzed her. You twisted the blade in her, making the hole deeper and more ragged before withdrawing the wakizashi and letting Sakura fall, single senbon still where you left it in her neck. 

“Tch! _Way_ too easy for Tsunade’s star pupil.” You complained to the shadow that was ambling around the base of a tree, ringing softly as it moved. Itachi pulled his hat off and offered you a microscopic smile. “Good. Let’s find the jinchuuriki now.” 

“How’s Kisame?” 

“He has his hands full but he is fine.” Uchiha informed you. 

“One of the people after him is probably that Naruto kid. Say, isn’t he supposed to be _yours_?” 

“Yes. He is my target.” Itachi admitted. 

“I guess I better let you do most of the work on him then.” You teased, throwing a sardonic smile his way before taking off towards the fray in the distance; Itachi following beside you. It didn't matter if Sakura heard all that. She would be dead soon. Who would find her before it was too late? Her comrades were up ahead, far enough away not to hear a scream. 

“We shall see what happens.” Itachi informed you coolly. 

After traveling for a short distance you two were in view of the larger fight. Kisame was keeping the Leaf shinobi all at bay, but was making no actual progress. All he had done was force them all to keep their attention on him. 

But he had help too, you were surprised to see that your clone was right there and it was supporting him. You thought it would get killed right away but it didn’t, and it was just behind and to the right of Kisame. Either Kisame never sustained a single injury or your clone healed the ones he had. 

Yamato, Kakashi, Sai and Naruto were getting increasingly frustrated with Kisame and your clone. And the knowledge that Sakura and Ino were both M.I.A. was really torturing them. Kisame wouldn’t let any of them slip away. 

Naruto rounded on you and Itachi in time to be pulled to the side roughly by Sai. Six senbon whizzed right through the spot were he had been standing and perforated the bark of a tree instead. 

“Thanks!” He barked at Sai and then eyed you and Itachi warily. “Itachi!? YOU BASTARD! WHERE’S SASUKE!?” You cringed and inserted a pinky finger in one of your ears at the sheer volume. “Yeowch.” 

Itachi sized Naruto up and saw that the fox-boy was dead serious. “I am not responsible for my brother’s actions, and I have no idea where he is.” 

“You freaking liar!!!!” Naruto hollered and shoved Sai away (who had been trying to hold him back), then launched himself off his tree branch towards Itachi, a kunai sliding down and out of his sleeve and into an awaiting hand. Naruto’s fingers latched onto the ringed handle of the knife in a death grip. “If you never did what you did, Sasuke would still be here!” 

“One would think that Sasuke and Naruto are lovers with how he always carries on about him.” You remarked. Sai pulled one of his scrolls out and as he was about to begin painting, you put a senbon through his wrist. Sai’s hand stopped dead and went stiff; his black eyes shooting wide open with more shock than pain. His paintbrush slipped from his fingers and fell down to Earth, bouncing off a branch and leaving a splotch of ink. It wouldn’t hurt if he didn’t move his hand. No. He was astounded. That senbon was exactly where it needed to be; directly through the area that would count the most. A quarter of the needle was sticking out the other side of his wrist. 

_’Perfect accuracy…and such speed and power.’_

The senbon looked like it was smoking and it cauterized the flesh around it. You must have passed chakra through it to make it move so quick. Sai had an eye for detail, something which serves one well in a fight, and he was ordinarily able to see something like this coming a mile away and get out of the path of the projectile. But not now. He didn’t even see you move! 

His eyes moved from his wrist to your cloaked form while he slowly pulled the needle from the small wound. It didn’t even bleed because of the cauterization. Who were you? The female Akatsuki member he knew of utilized origami for her attacks, which, if one considers it, would make her the perfect opponent for Sai, who uses ink. There was only one woman in the Akatsuki as far as the Bingo Book was concerned. None of them did see you get swept away by Deidara and Sasori at the scene of Orochimaru's murder. 

“I’ll get you for what you did, you bastard!” Naruto was carrying on and on, locking in a fierce fight with Itachi. But neither of them were gaining any ground; Naruto had the knowledge of how to fight Itachi since he ran into him while on the way to save Gaara, and Itachi was blatantly holding back. 

Kisame was starting to have difficulties with Yamato and Kakashi. He might’ve folded by now if your clone wasn’t right there with him. Both of them were up to his tricks and had numerous ways to counter them. 

You leapt towards them and landed behind Kakashi. Kisame spotted you. A change of tactic was in order, and breaking the pack up was the best alternative. Letting these people stick together was too much of a headache to contend with painlessly. 

“You took care of those two girls?” He called over. If he was correct, your answer would be a good distraction. 

“They’re bleeding like stuck pigs right now!” You responded. Then it hit Yamato. The realization that is. 

“…You’re…” He avoided a shark torpedo. “…I know you somehow.” But what was your name? He only heard it once or twice before. But he knew you. He had met you. But where?! 

“What!?” Kakashi’s attention swiveled from Kisame to you. He performed some lightning fast seals that the eye could not track. Your eyes widened a fraction and you narrowly avoided being pummeled by the Copy Ninja’s water dragon missile jutsu. It was so strong that it busted the tree you stood on clean in half. With a wooden groan it tipped backwards and was caught awkwardly by many crisscrossing branches of other trees.  
“I don’t seem to recall raising a finger against you, Hatake.” You called from a branch above him. 

“You mentioned Ino and Sakura?” He deadpanned. 

“You leaf shinobi need to train your kids better. They would’ve saved themselves a lot of trouble if they just laid down and stayed out of my way.” You looked over your shoulder, then laughed. “They’re both bleeding to death…one internally, the other externally. What’s more important…trying to knock me off my branch or just going to save their pathetic asses?” 

The way you mocked him really got on Kakashi’s nerves. You were shoving an indirect insult down his throat by implying that Sakura was badly trained. But the very reason why she was still alive was because of his and Tsunade's training. Leaving here would be foolish, and splitting the group up was most clearly what you were trying to accomplish right now. But if Sakura and Ino died then you would be correct in everything you said. Images from the past fled through his mind. Mangled corpses…both of his friends and his foes and innocents caught in crossfire. And then, his best friend. 

_No._  
NO.  
NO!! 

In a touch of panic, Kakashi bolted off towards the direction you came from, looking for Sakura and Ino. He had to hurry. He might be too late! Kakashi vowed never to let anything bad happen to anyone important to him ever again as long as he could help it. He could not wait any longer if you told the truth. Sai and Yamato were back there with Naruto still. And Kiba was looking with Akamaru for Tsunade. Hopefully everything would turn out okay. If the situation differed at all in their favor; he would entrust the girl's survival to the chance that Kiba would notice them on his way back. He'd been gone long enough to be on the return trip to the fight with Tsunade in tow, assuming she was at her office. 

His sensitive nose picked up the coppery tickle of blood in the air, and he halted on a branch and followed his nose more carefully until he found Sakura and Ino. They were lying in a growing pool of blood. Sakura was whiter than a sheet, but Ino’s stomach had developed a massive bruise and the tip of a shattered rib was poked through her skin, a trickle of blood running down from that and from where shuriken were dug in between her knee-joints. Blood was also drying on her chin and lower lip.  
Kakashi was no medic. He had to summon help to carry them into the village, so he called the largest of his ninja hounds and pulled Ino onto it’s back, using some invisible wire to help fasten her body over the dog’s back. The wire would be uncomfortable for her should she wake up, but it would do the trick. 

He picked up Sakura himself, not caring that her blood splattered across his clothing, and ran off at top speed towards the village with his hound carrying Ino at his side. Great…now Tsunade would be needed _in_ the village, not outside of it. Kiba and Akamaru were actually leading Tsunade and five others through the woods and they stopped when they saw Kakashi and one of his dogs carrying two bleeding girls. 

"Ino?!” Kiba yelped, stunned and staring. Akamaru whined. 

“Sakura!” Tsunade growled. Dammit! How could Sakura let this happen to her?! 

"Go ahead and assist however you can.” Tsunade snapped to the cell behind her, and then went with Kakashi into the village. She was needed there more now, or two kunoichi many people loved would die in less experienced hands. 

Kiba took point and ran ahead with Akamaru, leading the new group out to the fighting. Kiba gritted his teeth in anger. Being sent to get the Hokage was a vital task, but it wasn't desirable. Maybe, just maybe, if he had been allowed to stay here, they wouldn't be in this mess. Perhaps his added strength could tip the scales. And now they had to rush to get there and try to help prevent any more potential casualties. 

But…they would be too late. 

See, by now, the numbers of people the three of you had to worry about were cut down enough for progress to be made easily. You had poisoned Sai without his noticing until his blood circulated more rapidly with increased movement. A wave of dizziness tore over his mind and he lost balance and fell down to a hot spring which was roiling with motion because it had so many of Kisame’s water sharks thrashing and swimming about within it. Yamato’s attention wavered long enough for him to notice that Sai took a spill. He laced his fingers together in the sign of the snake, then focused his chakra and made an arm of wood come shooting upwards to curl around Sai’s limp form and save him from being torn apart a hundred different ways by those sharks. 

But it was a mistake because _that_ was when Kisame was able to lower a devastating boom on the descendant of the First Hokage. 

You had meanwhile hidden long enough to load one syringe with a very specific poison…the kind that you used on Kisame before to numb pain. But in a large quantity like this, it would not only act as a type of dangerous muscle relaxer, but it paralyze the target _this_ dosage. He’d be lucky if it didn’t. 

Beyond that, you pulled out what looked like an empty glass test tube with a small rubber cap keeping it closed. You waited in the shadows for an opening and as Itachi sidestepped a Rasengan that was aimed right at his chest, you tossed the vial onto the tree branch Naruto’s soles connected with after the attack…and the glass shattered. Immediately you made a few handseals, activated your Wind symbol and darted behind Itachi, grasping him by the cloak and opening your other palm flat outwards towards Naruto. Wind blades with faintly visible shimmering edges slashed the air and also sent a gust of the invisible vapor from the shattered vial up into unsuspecting Naruto’s face. He inhaled it without a thought. He hadn’t even noticed that he crushed a vial with his foot. The wind blades were the diversion. 

You relinquished your grip on Itachi and ran head-on at Naruto who made a clone pop out of thin air for him to make another Rasengan. The airborne poison started working though, and he never even finished making the compact orb of energy. His clone poofed into a cloud of smoke and Naruto clutched at his chest. 

You landed before him and held the syringe filled with clear orange fluid in hand. 

“Having trouble?” You breathed. “Don’t struggle and it won’t be such a problem.” 

Itachi appeared at your side. “There are others coming.” 

“Let’s get the hell out of here then.” You grabbed Naruto by the shirt and hauled him to his feet so you could stab the needle into a vein and inject half of the contents into him. “This should keep him compliant for awhile. I have more left.” Kisame came over, having knocked Yamato out, and picked up Naruto. You capped the syringe and pocketed it. “Let’s go.” Kisame said, and then ran off. You and Itachi followed, Itachi making sure that the three of you did not leave a trail for the leaf shinobi to follow. 

Naruto, over Kisame’s shoulder, felt like his muscles were limp jelly and his lungs were tired and ready to give up, but would not give in as long as he focused on breathing. 

A sense of hopelessness began to permeate his strong heart. 

_Two Days Later In Konoha Hospital…_

“Sakura. I see you’re awake.” Tsunade observed casually. She came to visit her student when she could. 

“I’m so sorry.” Sakura bowed her head, voice a little ragged. “I…” 

“Enough!” Tsunade cut her off angrily. “None of that! Now listen. I need you to tell me who did this to you.” 

“I couldn’t see her face so I don’t know for sure. But the way she talked, the way she acted and the way she fought…it reminded me of one very unique person that myself, Sai, Naruto and Captain Yamato met.” 

“Who?” 

“I think her name was Saiya.” 

Tsunade motioned for one of her ANBU body guards to come hither, and he did. “Your bingo book.” She demanded. He handed it to her and she flipped through the pages before landing on one in the back and dropping it in Sakura’s lap. Teal orbs appraised the page it was opened to. 

“Hey, where’s Naruto?” Sakura asked abruptly, remembering when she had a conversation between herself, Naruto and you back in the badlands. 

“Naruto’s missing.” Tsunade sighed, crossing her arms. 

Sakura turned her widening eyes to her teacher. “Wh…what…? But Kakashi-sensei…Sai…and…” 

“Kakashi is the one who got to you and brought you here, it’s good he found you when you did or we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now. The others were all found unconscious. And we think we know who that new woman in the Akatsuki is. But I want to be certain.” Tsunade interrupted her. The Hokage’s eyes roved down to the open book in Sakura’s lap. The answer was plain as day.  
“Any guesses yourself?” 

Sakura’s fingers toyed idly with the edges of the well-thumbed pages in the book, and she turned her stunned gaze down to your picture. She traced the nail of her index finger around the five pointed flower that is your clan insignia. 

“Gyaku Saiya.” 

"Yes." Tsunade nodded once, gravely. "And now, she's in with the Akatsuki." 

Outside darkness fell; a lightless shroud devoid of any happiness, moon, or stars across the wooded lands. 


	12. Soul Wreckage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Nine Tails is sealed, you reveal some interesting information, and there is a confrontation in the woods.

Soul Wreckage

 

Days later yourself, Kisame and Itachi met Pein in a crystal cavern far below ground in the Earth Country, Iwagakure. The group had to take an alternate route to this meeting place because the Leaf shinobi would likely try to pick up the trail, but your cell had taken a long route and passed through the shifting sands of Suna on the way there. Considering that it was the time of year where sandstorms kick up most frequently, they wouldn’t be able to follow you past that point, through the vast desert.

This roundabout route was trying on the three of you, especially since someone had to carry Naruto at all times. You would only allow Naruto a scant amount of food, but plenty of water. You had been in favor of starving the boy, but Itachi wouldn’t hear of it. He said while it would be easier to keep him weak, they needed him to stay strong enough to handle separation of the Kyuubi from his body. So you only gave him what you had to. And no, it was certainly not enough to feed his humongous appetite, but the four of you had only so much food, especially when crossing the desert. It needed to be rationed out.

But thankfully that was behind you all now.

At present Itachi, Kisame and you were resting in the glittering cavern that was lit up by nothing but some glow sticks that Itachi thought to bring. He said he had about six of them. He cracked one and set it down in the middle of a cluster of crystals, which amplified the light and threw it every which way, causing an eerie glow to light the cavern as softly as can be in an aurora of color.  
Naruto was soundly unconscious on the floor where he had been dumped unceremoniously. Soon you saw a mostly black shape flicker into sight next to Naruto’s body. This ghostly shape had Pein’s Rinnegan eyes, and was etched in bright rainbow color. An astral projection.

“Good work.” Pein said, voice slightly deeper than usual, also distorted and disembodied. “You are early.”

“That’s surprising we had to take the long way here.” You said, now running your fingers through your locks before pulling it back into a ponytail. Your hat was sitting on a pointed crystal formation nearby. Your eyes had taken on an eerie purple glow in the aurora lighting.

“Itachi, instruct her on what to do while I summon it.” Pein ordered.

Itachi turned to you. “We are going to draw the Kyuubi from Naruto’s body through a technique that will take days and nights to complete. All you are required to do is-” He broke off when a great tremor shook the area and dust clouded the air. Once the dust settled, a massive statue with many closed eyes had appeared, Naruto lying at the base of its chest. There were two massive chained hands as well, the fingers contorted up towards the ceiling. 

“-you are to stand on top of the left small finger; corresponding with your ring.” Itachi finished, now that the commotion was over. “And all you must do is focus your energy with the rest of ours. Leader will direct the rest of the jutsu.”

“Assemble.” Pein called, and almost right away, more astral projections appeared above the tips of the fingers. Itachi nodded to you and jumped up onto the finger that corresponded to his ring. Kisame did the same, and so did you. Pein himself also appeared amongst the rest of you all, on the end of a huge stony finger.

“This will take two days and two nights if Kisame and Saiya lend 40% of their chakra for this.” Pein instructed the two of you. Both of you had the largest amount of chakra out of everyone in the group. But Kisame seemed surprised. That was quite a lot.

“Nope...” You drawled, placing your hands in the sign of concentration and closing your eyes lazily. “I can offer up 95% . I can regenerate my chakra faster than anybody else.”

“That’s a completely insane amount of chakra.” Kakuzu observed quietly. "Recklessly so."

“We appear to need that much, so can we button it and start already?” You grumbled.

Not to be fully outdone, Kisame agreed. “I’ll give it 75% then.” He said, also focusing. “If anyone comes after us, someone else can go out to stall them this time.” He'd give in more, except it'd border on craziness. In the event a distraction was called for and he was the only option, he wouldn't have much to work with if he contributed 95% also. You may be able to restore your chakra easier than anybody else here, but he wasn't sure you'd be able to help him recharge when you had yourself to worry about.

“Good, because I’m going to be bored out of my fucking skull if this takes too long.” Hidan snapped.

“Enough.” Pein cut in. “Now be careful with the body, everyone.”

“It shouldn’t take nearly as long if Saiya and Kisame give in so much energy.” Konan said softly, her voice distorted like everyone else’s. 

Once the chatter ceased, everyone focused and Pein began the sealing jutsu. The jaws of the statue unclenched and the bit disconnected and fell out from between its stony teeth. Light blue energy seeped out from the open mouth, burbling up out of the throat and then forming the long bodies and heads of nine...no, ten dragons. It had been altered with your addition. The draconic bodies all reared up and then dove down, their ghostly mouths snapping open and closing over Naruto’s limp body, dragging him up into the air and soon forming a huge sphere of blue chakra around him. His spine arched and his body spread-eagled, hair flowing with the current of the chakra in the sphere. A thick line of energy was still connected to the sphere from the statue’s mouth, making it look like a strange balloon with a person inside of it.

Naruto struggled at first on impulse alone. His eyes and mouth opened wide and evil red chakra welled up and spilled pasted his eyelids and his lips. The red chakra started getting sucked into the carved mouth of the statue in three separate trails. Naruto choked and gurgled while the energy continued to be drawn out of his eyes and mouth, but no one gave a damn that he was clearly in a great amount of discomfort.

At the time you were busily pouring tremendously large amounts of your chakra in, deciding it would be better to add it in by doses. Since all this energy was being constantly passed through Naruto’s body, you figured he may have a hard time handling the stress. It was a very good thing that he was somewhat used to handling the burn of foreign energy across his flesh. The Demon Fox’s Cloak certainly prepared him for that much.

_In Naruto’s Soul..._

Within his self, Naruto was laying unconscious on the floor of those familiar halls that led to the Kyuubi’s prison in the furthest recesses of his mind. The fox’s gaping fanged maw opened and closed in constant howls of pain, and he rammed his head against the sealed bars of his prison again and again. Evil red chakra boiled out from between the bars, but it never seeped across the floor to Naruto. The energy was being drained out of the many-tailed fox far too rapidly.

Dark, almost black blood dampened the fox’s reddish-brown fur and tricked into his bright red eyes, making him squeeze the gigantic orbs shut. He roared and screamed and after ramming his head against the bars enough times to bleed all over the floor, he collapsed and writhed like a pathetic beast with its leg in an iron trap, his nine tails lashing against the walls and slamming into the floor making spider web cracks in the cement, his paws in the air, long ears laid flat against his bloodied skull. The fox looked like it was going insane with agony. 

The whole time, Naruto lay on the floor on the other side of the room from the sealed bars, unconscious and therefore unable to witness the wretched scene that had transpired inside his own spirit.

 

_Hours Later…_

 

Boredom. Lots and lots of boredom.

But it was not nearly as bad as all the other times the Akatsuki had to peel a jinchuuriki away from it’s demon. And that was strictly because Kisame and you were contributing so much chakra that it went a hell of a lot faster than ever.

Yes, that’s right. Instead of it being a matter of days, the last dregs of the Kyuubi were sucked clean out of Naruto’s body, and the Ten Dragons Sealing jutsu ended…about two hours after sunrise the next day.

The technique ended before everyone except you realized it. Your eyes were wide open and you were sitting where you had been standing the whole time, concentrating on regenerating your drained chakra. Your hands were once again together in concentration.

When you had 5% left, you now had about 31% regenerated after sitting there like this for five minutes. All the moisture and energy was being drained from the air and multiplied in your chakra reserves. Only Itachi and Kisame felt the sudden dull dryness in the air.

“How long was that?” Sasori inquired a little sharply.

“Roughly twenty-five hours from start to finish.” You answered; voice unusually soft and soothed as your body continued to absorb chakra from your surroundings. You were the picture of tranquility.

“Saiya?” Konan asked.

“Mm?”

“What exactly are you doing?” 

You opened one eye, then the other, stood up and hopped off of the tip of the little finger you stood atop. “I’m almost at 80% of my chakra capacity. If you left me alone for about fifteen more minutes I would have overstocked 20% extra than I need.”

This earned many glances of curiosity. 

“How much can you usually store?”

“Hm…I’ve never gone up to full capacity before so I’m not positive…but I’d have to say…255% more chakra than I had before we sealed the Kyuubi.” You said, now settling down on a rock and trying to absorb more chakra from the Earth, but failed. You scowled. “Dammit, this location’s gone dry.”

“Holy FUCK, that’s almost enough for you to seal a bijuu on your own!” Hidan exclaimed angrily. "So why the hell did we have to be here, huh?!"

“You all may leave.” Pein instructed dryly. They all nodded, having things to do, all the astral projections were dispelled and all that was left was Pein’s image, and of course Kisame and Itachi were there too. But they seemed interested and were hanging around, even if they had the option now to just leave and go back to headquarters. You helped them out greatly, they at least owed it to you to stick around and go back with you.

“Explain.” Pein ordered you, turning his Rinnegan on you. 

You looked around at him and the others, thoroughly irritated. “Okay, the easiest way to explain is…the Earth is in a constant state of flux in terms of recycling and reforming its own energies. Someone who has no idea how to control their energies absorbs about 1% every day, while your standard genin absorbs 3%, a chuunin 5% and a jounin 7%. Anyone with exceptional chakra control absorbs less, depending on the level. Think of it in terms of breathing. You need to take in fresh air to live, and your chakra does pretty much the same thing, only it ‘breathes in’ the Earth’s energy.”

“And?" Kisame prodded. You sighed and continued on, wishing they weren't making you do this.

“Since it is as involuntary as the beating of your own heart, it is something that is said to be very hard to control, but some have the capacity to absorb more than the normal quota of the planet’s energies. It is not something that every person is cut out for. By absorbing the free energy lingering in my surroundings, I can not only completely fill my chakra supply, but store extra. There no consequences I know of towards the planet itself except that sometimes a location can be bled dry of energy, and life will stagnate for a small span of time. This is a rare occurrence. Apart from that much as a repercussion, chakra will always find its way back into the cycle." You paused. "But of course, there is something to be wary of should any of you learn how to absorb energy as I have.”

“What would that be?” Kisame asked, but he understood it even as you said it. Like you, he had a means to draw chakra. In his case, it was with the Samehada.

“If you acquire too much chakra it can back-fire on you and completely destroy not only your body, but your soul as well. Your body would become similar to a large bomb and obliterate anything within range. This was the way one of my ancestors died. The destruction was said to be nearly equivalent as that of the greatest lightning element jutsu, Limelight.”

“Hm, you said 255% more than you began with.” Pein thought aloud. “And that does not exceed your limit?”

“No, that is maximum capacity for me. Technically, that's my version of being at 100%, but in terms of a normal person, it would be measured as 255%, hence the odd number.” You answered truthfully. “But on the other hand I’ve never tried to stock that much energy. I have no idea how it would affect me."

“Are you seriously considering having her seal the other bijuu on her own?” Itachi inquired pointedly.

“No, that would be foolish.” Pein objected. “It takes a great deal of preparation ahead of time to seal a demon. Others cannot restore their chakra like Saiya can. Due to how things have been progressing up until now it took us almost three years between demons _because_ of all the preparation in anticipation for the time of sealing and the time it took for us to capture one of them.”

“Then that must be why I heard it takes three years for Akatsuki to be able to go through the motions of sealing another demon.” You murmured. “If it’s happened more than once, that is.”

“The other times we captured Tailed Demons it was just under three years between each of them, and now less than three years for this one. Any jutsu like this or the one Orochimaru used to change bodies has a very long ‘cool-down’ period where it cannot be initiated again until after that period ends.” Itachi explained to you. You tilted you head. “It makes sense, and it’s good for anyone who wants to stop us. How long do we have to wait now?”

“I am not sure.” Pein answered. “We will table this discussion. Itachi, your cell is to return to base immediately. Make sure you aren’t followed. Dismissed.” Pein’s astral projection faded and you were all left in pitch blackness, and a rumbling feeling followed closely by a blast of dusty air signified that the many-eyed statue was gone. You felt blind.  
The glow stick from the other day was long dead. But nevertheless you knew where your hat was, and put it back on.

“Okay let’s go, right?” 

Itachi cracked another glow stick and nodded curtly to you and Kisame, then led both of you out of the glittering cathedral of crystal and out into a world that was gradually brightening by the morning sun. You nearly hissed and tilted your face away from the brilliant rays of light filtering from between the shaggy branches of the pine trees that grew along the ragged ridges and backs of mountains in this rocky country. 

“Something wrong?” Kisame’s amused voice snagged your attention easily enough. Prior to his question, your had tugged the edge of your hat down a little further, scowling at the sheer contrast of the day as opposed to the inky dark of the cave. You figured he heard you suppress the sound of pain when the sun attacked your unprepared retina.

“Really- _fucking_ -bright.” You griped, squinting under your hat, ringing as you walked, just like your partners for this mission did.

Kisame got a good hoot out of that one. “What d’ya expect?!”

“I didn’t expect anything, that’s the problem.” You muttered, then paused and glanced back over your shoulder. Kisame and Itachi noticed that the ringing of your bell had ceased, and they paused to wonder what you were up to.

“What is it Saiya?”

“That kid, the one we left in the cave.”

“What?” Itachi prodded a little acidly.

“I don’t think he’s dead.”

“What? That’s impossible!” Kisame growled. “You’re crazy! No one can live through that!”

A whispering breeze played through the rough lands surrounding the three of you, but it sounded more like a voice was carried upon it. It was the low hum of a masculine voice the more you listened. Your violet eyes darkened and narrowed, and one of your hands strayed to the belt that was slung low around your waist where you kept your wakizashi and unsheathed it. 

Itachi by now was starting to realize something was off as well.

“Something’s definitely up.” You informed them from between gritted teeth. 

Kisame and Itachi exchanged glances. Neither of them had ever seen you become so tense before. Just as Itachi opened his mouth to speak, you turned around and looked back towards the cave.

There, standing at the mouth of the cave, was a man whom mirrored Itachi himself very closely in looks. Though he appeared even more emotionless at the moment if that’s possible. He wore a slightly loose white shirt that was partially open at his chest, offering a peek at the excellently sculpted torso beneath it, marked only by a few pale scars that one would have to have an eye for detail to notice. He also wore a pair of dark pants, and a great big twisted cord around his waist that was tied in a…bow? With a sword slid through it?

That was when the others noticed you shaking slightly. Your hand that held the wakizashi dropped to your side, and your free hand flew to the place where your mouth was hidden behind the high collar of your clouded cloak, clamping the material firmly over your mouth.

“Little brother.” Itachi greeted boredly, eyelids almost drooping tiredly as he stared across towards the other Uchiha. “To whom do I owe the…’honor’?” Hm, ‘honor’ sounded like a loaded word when Itachi drawled it out at his brother.

“To Naruto.” Sasuke said, his face twisting into a strange look…onyx eyes widening when he brushed some of his long raven bangs away from his eyes while the wind continued to blow. Then his stare roved towards you once again, and he refused himself a sneer. He couldn’t recall the last time he saw someone shook in his presence.

“Your friend here seems terrif—“

You cracked.

“-AHAHAHAHAHAA! Oh man, can anyone you seriously! You’re wearing a bow around your waist, I don’t even know GIRLS who do that!!!” You raved, laughing hysterically, half-buckling over under the pressure in your lungs. You couldn’t contain yourself, and your arms were now wrapped around your cloaked waist for support so you wouldn’t fall over, the handle of your wakizashi choked in your white-knuckled fist. “Man you’re pathetic! And you’re the one that kid was looking for!? HAHAHA I wouldn’t even miss you! What a pansy…! HAAHAHAHAA!”

Kisame’s mouth twitched, he was fighting the urge to grin. Itachi was having the exact same problem for once in his life. Your laughter was contagious, perhaps a trait from your family. Sasuke however, watched as a real, beautiful smile graced his brother’s face, and he even started to chuckle, while Kisame started laughing with you as well. Her hadn't seen Itachi smile like that since he was little.

Fingers rolled up into fists at the offended Uchiha’s side. Never…ever…EVER…had he been laughed at. What was the killing blow was how his austere older brother was even joining in on it. 

“Enough.” Sasuke demanded, a hand reaching behind him to grip his Kusanagi sword. 

But that wasn’t what stopped you from laughing. It was the sight of a very ragged looking blond limping out of the dark mouth of the cavern to stand behind Sasuke. Except Naruto’s eyes were blank looking. Blank and blue, since the pupil in his eye contracted to become a single tiny point at the center. He was being controlled, that much was evident.

“Sa…ske..” Naruto whispered, reaching towards him from where he leaned against the rock wall. 

“Ah, so close yet so far.” You stated smugly, straightening up with a smirk curving your lips. “I understand now.”

“Do you, woman?” Sasuke questioned coldly. “I doubt that you know what you’re talking about.”

“The poison in his veins put him in a coma, which dragged his conscious mind so far under that he was safe from the sealing process…in such a situation, the Kyuubi would’ve assumed control of his body, but it was taken from its cage in the boy’s soul. When you worked with that snake-bastard you certainly must have picked a few things up from him, since I know for a fact that you do not possess the Mangekyou…which is one of the few techniques that a person can use to get inside another’s mind.”

Sasuke’s poker face remained unchanged, but he was inwardly shaken for the first time in a very long while. How could you possibly figure all that out in a matter of seconds?

“What’s ‘getting into someone’s head’ have to do with anything?” Kisame wondered aloud, making you smirk wider. Itachi folded his arms and focused on Naruto. Yes, something was strange about the kid.

“Let’s put it this way Kisame, since Naruto was in a coma he shouldn’t be moving right now. He would’ve died if left alone long enough without life support, but there are only a few techniques in the entire world used to get deep into someone’s subconscious and fuck around with their inner workings, much deeper than any _ordinary_ genjutsu would reach. Aside from the Mangekyou, none of those techniques are listed as any particular type of jutsu, apart from the ones used by Sensory Corps. They’re forbidden in every country for a reason, and one of these is capable of pulling a person back from the reaper’s grasp, no matter how hopeless the situation seems; all at the cost of a sacrifice. Since Naruto would’ve died while in a coma without life support _after a span of time_ , he wasn’t exactly standing on the threshold of Death’s Door just yet. Sasuke could’ve easily used any of the forbidden techniques to pull him out of that coma without need for a sacrifice. Of course, there is a price for the victim; Naruto will be without his free will for awhile.”

Kisame blinked his dead white shark’s eyes. “So Naruto is your little brother’s bitch?”

The ghost of a cruel smirk tugged at Itachi’s stoic features. “One could say that. It is interesting that Sasuke would know such a jutsu, but I am not surprised.”

Sasuke glanced at Naruto who pushed off from the wall and walked slowly past Sasuke towards you, whom was closest of the three of you. He halted at a respectable distance from you, and squared his shoulders, sucking in a long breath before releasing it sluggishly from his lungs. His blank blue eyes nearly mirrored the sapphire of the sky above. 

“Naruto.” Sasuke began, narrowing his hard onyx eyes a little bit. “You know what to do.”

Naruto’s hands came level with his heart and a look of focus struck across his features. “Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!” 

Just like that, row after row of shadow clones appeared. They completely filled the area…all the way into the cave, all around the opening of it, standing atop it, in the trees, under the trees, around the trees…just…fucking… _everywhere_. It looked like there was over a thousand of them, surrounding the group.

Itachi scoffed and grasped the back of your red-clouded cloak before nodding to Kisame and vanishing, you in tow.

Kisame grinned toothily and in the blink of an eye the area was flooded. He made a volley of water shark missiles and they tore apart a few hundred of the clones. Trees were shaken by the force of the water, and the water level rose high enough to swallow all the Naruto doppelgangers. While some swam, they were torn into dust by Kisame’s water shark jutsu, and …the finale…a humongous tidal wave that finished every last clone off.

In exactly one minute, around one thousand shadow clones were decimated before they could act.

Once the water evaporated per Kisame’s command, he joined you and Itachi where the pair of you was standing on one of the highest, strongest trees the Uchiha could find. Naruto and Sasuke were nowhere to be found.

You blinked at Kisame. “Wow.”

He waved it off. “That was nothing. Let’s get out of here already!”

The three of you withdrew to the Akatsuki headquarters. It took the better part of a week to get there, but you were back. “Alright Saiya! I heard you did a really good job back there, un!” Deidara thudded you on the back, making your body pitch foreword without warning, amethyst eyes bright with alarm.

“AAAHHH! Hey! Deidara-baka you almost made me pour nail polish on my lap!” You snarled, suddenly in his face, a small bottle of black nail lacquer clenched precariously between your thumb and the side of your index finger, the small brush attached to the cap of it in the other hand. You had been sitting around in the living area painting your nails, something you forgot to do from the start, but either it wasn’t an important part of the uniform or no one ever noticed you forgot that little detail.   
“But nothing happened so it’s all good, un.” He responded smugly. This conversation wasn’t already a total wreck. _Yet._

“So!? What if it did?!”

“What’s the deal, nothing happened!” The blond retorted.

“The point is not to just go and scare the shit out of a person outta nowhere like that!!!!!” You cried.

“You were off your guard, it’s your fault, HN!”

“Oh don’t you DARE pin this on me, airhead!”

“Airhead, is that the best you can come up with, hnnn?!”

Konan was sitting by you, filing her own nails after having stripped the orange nail polish from her fingers. It had been chipping after a week of hard work. She set her metal nail file down and grabbed the TV remote and turned the volume up to drown you and Deidara out, then went back to watching the movie the two of you agreed on while continuing work on her manicure. She could increase the volume up to max if she liked but you and Deidara would only yell louder!

“What the hell is up with you?!” You fumed.

“Oh I get it, it’s that time of the month isn’t it, un?”

“What the fuck does my menstrual cycle have to do with this?! NOTHING!”

Deidara started laughing, he liked picking on you sometimes because thought you were adorable when you were upset.  
“Hahah, I just figured that—“

Konan muted the television and stood up between the two of you, speaking softly while brandishing her sharp nail file. “Would you two get a room already and let me do my nails in peace?” 

“My room’s closer, un.”

“Good, then go take a cold one, asshole.” You snarled. Deidara left the room laughing hysterically. You and Konan could hear him all the way down the hall. Konan plopped down on the couch again, but she didn’t seem so bothered after all by the argument. She was used to being caught in the middle of worse than that little spat. “So are you two going to fuck and make up or what? You’ve going back and forth like a married couple since you revived him.” Konan inquired casually. Your blood literally ran frigid at the mention of the guy that left you flustered whenever he got a chance. 

It was true, on and off through the months Deidara and you had been at each other’s throats, but playfully, not like how you and Sasori traded barbs. Something would have to give eventually; all that sparking tension would go somewhere. It was the big reason why he was so good at setting your temper off without much effort lately. And what _really_ burnt you up about it was that he was doing it all on purpose! To think, he was one of the nicer ones in this place!

Luckily you were able to shake Konan’s inquiry off.

“What’re you talking about Konan? Goldilocks pisses me off, why the hell would I sleep with him? I mean, come on. He has more than one mouth. Why would I sleep with a creepazoid like that?”

Konan lifted a blue eyebrow at you before taking up her own nail polish and shaking it so the chemicals within it mixed, the tiny steel ball bearing within it tinkling against the glass. “Some might think it's kinky.” 

“Hm.” You allocated your attention span to painting the second coat on your nails. “I could understand that if they weren’t tools for forming clay.” 

“Methinks you’ll understand it better someday.”

“What the hell is _that_ supposed to mean?” You demanded, voice coming out a little more strongly than you intended. 

“It means I’d be willing to make a serious bet in the millions against Kakazu, whom always seems to win in any betting pool.” She told you very calmly and with the unwavering honesty and patience of a saint—err….practiced kunoichi.

You went quiet, finding yourself unable to come up with some kind of response for that.

“Saiya, I don’t understand what’s up with you. Anyone aside from Deidara or maybe Sasori could have done the same thing that Deidara did earlier, and you would not have flinched. But no, no no, Deidara made you fly off the handle. Have you ever noticed that about yourself? Do you ever pause to question it?” 

Truthfully you had hardly noticed; you were too blinded by your momentary outbursts of rage to wonder about why it was happening this way to begin with. Yeah. No other people aside from those two, or even the mention of them, could shake you like that. It was; for lack of a better description; rather uncharacteristic of your personality. 

“Saiya? Earth to Saiya!” A hand appeared before your eyes, waving a little frantically in an endeavor to catch your attention. You shook your head as though clearing your mind and shot Konan a glance overflowing with mild perplexity. You didn’t realize you had zoned out for _that_ long. “Sorry.” You muttered. Konan fixed her stare on you; both of the orbs overshadowed by her long eyelashes brimming with rare sympathy. “Saiya, accept that cupid shot you in the ass and deal with it, because I can see that this is going to develop into a worse problem than it already is. If you let your emotions eclipse your mind any more than they have recently and you could turn into a liability. The second that happens someone is going to jump on the chance to get a hold of you and do with you what they will, because Pein…I mean Leader, he will not permit any weakness to exist in Akatsuki and you’ll become free game.”

Your eyes were fixated on hers, looking dead-on into her pupils. Konan was correct. This couldn’t keep happening. 

You screwed your nail polish shut, seeing that your nails didn’t need another coat, then grabbed the clear top coat bottle and applied some of it. “Okay Konan. I’ll take that advice and at least keep the status quo for now.”

“Good.” A smile tore her pink lips, but it was gone quickly as it appeared. “By the way did you report yet?”

“Yeah. Itachi insisted that we get that done right away once we got back. Leader didn’t have any extra missions for us right now so I’m a bit weirded out that I can just sit here and relax until the next mission. There’s really nothing to do, huh?” Konan looked up from painting her toenails, frowning slightly. “No but still, you should train. That reminds me. Have you spoken to Sasori just yet?”

“Not since I snubbed him before I left for the mission.”  
“ _Still?_ I thought he’d make more of an effort than that.”  
“It’s his problem, not mine.” You mumbled, doing very well on keeping your feelings in check. “Pein is only going to get more and more upset with him. I wonder if he knows that he’s actually making you wait since you know about it?”

“Oh, he knows. Sasori tried to stop me in the hall on the way to my room after Itachi told me I only had fifteen minutes to get packed and meet him and Kisame at the entrance. I blew Sasori off then because I had no time to chat. I’m guessing he was planning on telling me then that we’re supposed to work together until he’s better off…which, by the way, I’m not too happy about it myself.”

“Hate it all you want, _it doesn’t change a thing_.”

“Yeah yeah yeah.” You got up because your nails were all dried. “Eh. I better at least make sure Deidara isn’t actually waiting for me to come to his room.”

“Sounds to me like you’re digging for trouble now, Saiya.”

“And what if I am?” 

“I’d encourage it.”

“You’re a freak.” 

“I wonder what that makes you, then.” She teased, smiling secretively. 

You groaned and left to go to Deidara’s rooms. Rooms, because his bedroom was connected to the room he used as his studio. The door was wide open, and the artist was inside his studio, sculpting up a storm, completely into what he was doing. You had no clue what it was he was making though, it was very strange.

You folded your arms and leaned against the door frame, eyeing him over casually and openly while he remained blissfully ignorant. That or he showed no signs that he knew he was in the presence of a woman. Deidara was wearing his usual black sleeveless shirt that bared his midriff, and a fishnet shirt beneath that, followed by the usual black pants and shoes. Nothing out of the ordinary, and at least he wasn't sculpting in the buff. 

“Abstract? I thought you were into making animals and things.” 

Deidara almost leapt out of his skin and sent a phalanx of tiny white geese so fast you didn’t see the pass of his hand. Before he could register who it was standing there the birds had made contact with you, and he blanched.

Oh fuck. 

But after the explosions went off he saw a flash of faint light, and you were standing there unharmed once the smoke cleared. You were holding your left hand up, the sigil on your thumb activated. He certainly was relieved that you were quick enough to get your shield between yourself and total annihilation. Ashen scorch marks scarred the floor in a clean arc where your shield had been.

You raised an eyebrow. “I might’ve been Sasori, and then where you’d be?”

"Rolling on the floor, un.”

“He’s not a puppet anymore.”

“That’s why it'd be funny.” He told you with the usual overconfident smirk. You lowered your eyebrow and contemplated him for a moment. Dei was a sadistic bastard after all, which is something you never saw in him until now. Though maybe you were an idiot not to notice that earlier in the year while he was constantly harassing you, you didn’t consider that sadism. It was more of a nuisance.

“Told you my bedroom is closer, didn’t I?”

“You mentioned it, but this is your studio, not your bedroom.” Ah. Touché. 

The blond raised and eyebrow and sat back down, one hand snatching up a handful of clay thoughtlessly. He began shaping it between his hands without the aid of his mouths. The mouths were good for sculpture, except they were more suited to battle.

“So why’d you come, un?”

“To make sure you weren’t holding your breath.”

“I wish I did, you would have to give me CPR by now.” He teased, smirking at you like always. 

“Or I could have just kicked you in the ribs and told you to suck it up already.” 

“Ouch, hn.” He looked down at his clay and said, “You can come in you know, I won’t bite too hard.” He was lucky that all the lights weren’t on in the room or you might see that he had a faint blush on his cheeks. He had noticed that your eyes didn’t remain on his face. Deidara wasn’t all that used to being openly checked out like that anymore since he usually wore his cloak in public.

You pushed off from the door frame and stepped into the room, purple eyes rolling this way and that as you took in the sights of the strange and wonderful things set around the room. “I thought art is a bang.” You asked him finally, sitting next to him on the bench.

“It is! But who says that these things are going to last forever? Nothing does. That’s impossible, un.”  
“I guess you’re right.” You hung your head, feeling a bit naïve now because of some of your own views on things. You had once believed that you’d be able to come up with some jutsu that would help extend your life, and the lives of those whom mattered to you. But then you'd be no different than Orochimaru.

Deidara leaned down and looked up at your overshadowed face. “What’s wrong, un?”

“You’re just making me think some things over, is all. You and Konan.”

“Like what?”

“Well...” You hesitated, then said, “…I’m guilty of trying to find of a way to preserve my life and that of those important to me. To live for a very long time, until we are sick of living this life. But then you made me realize. Even if I find a way to do it so that our current bodies never age, or age very slowly, I’d be no different than Orochimaru.”

Deidara straightened his back and fiddled with the lump of clay between his hands. “The people who have the ability to make something like that happen always become tempted by it. Because it’s such a seductive power. You can do anything if you figure out how to live forever. It defies nature. But as I’ve seen with Sasori, we as humans aren’t meant to live too long. It does things to you. So yeah I don’t blame you for thinking about that, because you could conceivably have the capability to do it, but if you ever did…I’d kill you, Saiya. Just know that. I’d make you go out with a ‘bang’. Like how I did, hn.”

Your eyes widened and your head whipped up to look him in the eye. “Why would you do something like that?!”

Deidara’s azure eye moved between your wide, startled violet orbs for a few seconds. There was something in his expression that you couldn’t quite decipher. “Because anything worth while should go out with a bang. And people should be the same way, before their beauty fades with their age.”

It took you a moment to figure that out. Took too long actually because whilst your mind stewed that sentence over, the tip of Deidara’s nose was barely touching yours. He cocked his head and kissed you, his single eye easing shut. Your eyes were still wide, but once the shock wore off, you too closed your eyes and kissed him back. It was hard to describe, but something… _clicked_. Like a key fitting perfectly into the lock made for it. He set his clay down next to him on the bench and wrapped one arm around your tiny waist, his other hand lifted to the side of your face and brushed some raven strays back behind an ear. A warm tingling sensation raced down from any skin that he touched with those slightly rough-textured fingers of his, and the feeling spread down and forced you to shiver, a faint rosy blush kissing the apples of your cheeks whilst his smooth lips and slick tongue were still caught in a playful fight with yours. You cautiously placed a hand on his back, and the other hand stole upwards to touch his hair, fingers finally latching onto the hair tie that bound a good portion of his blond tresses into a long, high ponytail. You undid it so his hair cascaded down in a wave of brilliant spun gold. 

Deidara’s hands began to wander over your clothing until he found the hem of your top, and his hands snuck beneath it so he could touch your warm, soft skin, each of his ten digits handling your curves with a gentle finesse you hadn’t thought him capable of. He was touching you as though he was admiring a masterpiece, not that you really thought of it that way, but he did. You were too caught up in the mixed sensations of warm to slightly cool skin; rough to soft...it was already a sensory overload for you, a woman whom had rarely been touched like this before. Most people treated you like you were a poisonous snake that had to be grabbed by the throat in order to be dealt with safely.

His mouth left yours and he littered a trail of butterfly kisses down your jaw line to your neck, where he started nuzzling a little and kissing until he discovered that little sore spot that Sasori had left on you. It had scarred but it was faint.

“What’s this…un?” His voice was slightly deeper, possibly because he was starting to be flooded with lust. Thankfully he was holding on to his hair-trigger self control without setting himself off and taking you right then and there, door wide open and all.

“What?” Your eyelids fluttered back open and he sucked softly on the small scar to further the question. You almost shivered. It was sensitive and weak feeling. Like an Achilles’ heel, only on your collarbone. “O-oh…Sasori…bit me when I brought him back, he said…he said I’d belong to him once I exceeded my use…I wasn’t able to stop him, I was too exhausted to move…”

You could’ve sworn you heard a low, threatening growl resonate from within him. He was upset at the mention of what Sasori did. Maybe _too_ upset? 

Deidara’s eye narrowed dangerously, not that you could see it. He had returned to your neck, taking in the scent that lingered on your skin. The smell was soothing to him. He felt his nerves lying back down already, but the threat was still there and still real…inches away, on your collarbone. Sasori left a little love-bite on you? So others would stay away, or was it for another purpose? Well he wasn’t winning that easily.  
Sasori might’ve gotten to you first, but there was something else that Deidara could take that would finalize the deal. Now was his opportunity to see how far he could make you go.

He glanced back at the mark while his rough hands moved to slip beneath the under wire of your bra, but a shrill of nervousness made you catch his wrists to prevent him from doing so. But as you did, Deidara fastened his mouth over your own. What was frightening was how he was so easily able to reduce you into a quivering bundle of nerves. You had to make sure it didn't get too far, because...embarrassing though it is, you had no idea what to do in this situation, and you didn't want him to gain any more control than he already had. Your nether region was throbbing and warmer than ever, to the point that you started squirming against him uncomfortably. You _wanted_ it, you _didn't_ want it, you wanted _him_ , you didn't know how to do _'it'_. 

Blessedly you were spared when voices were heard down the hall. Kakuzu and Hidan were bickering about some damn thing, and your eyes shot wide open, moving towards Deidara’s azure eye nervously. Both of you retracted your hands from one another and Deidara stole one last kiss before letting go, whipping his hair up into a ponytail once again and then grabbing his abandoned lump of clay. You fixed your bra and your shirt then stood up and turned your back to the door and moved towards the sculpture of a huge white hawk.

“This one looks kinda familiar Deidara.” You said. Hidan and Kakazu paused when they drew level with the open door and peered in, having heard voices. Deidara glanced over his shoulder and said, “It’s the one I used back in the desert. Don't you remember, hn?”

“Not really, I was kinda out of it, remember? Frickin’ Sasori! He helped me finish my mission and all but it pisses me off that he decided to step in. I could’ve finished the snake bastard myself!” You were steamed that it happened that way. Still. 

Deidara ‘noticed’ the two men near the door and scowled. “What do you two want, hn?”

“I’m just wondering what the fuck you and Saiya are doing alone is all.” Hidan spat out, very foreword with his thoughts. 

“Funny I don’t remember my mother being quite as ugly as you Hidan.” You sneered, turning to look at them. You appeared perfectly normal…hair was fixed, clothing was fixed, and no extra color flushing your complexion. 

He scowled at you. “Take that back bitch.”

“Make me, pantywaist.”

“THAT’S quite enough.” Kakuzu intervened; wanting to make sure you remained unharmed. Why? Easy, your value goes down if the goods are damaged and he’d get less money when he turns you in. Little did he know, that was never going to happen. “We will go make our report now Hidan.”

They left; Hidan extra infuriated, Deidara looking like he was fit to burst.

“I don't think anyone's ever called him that to his face, hn.” He said, the corners of his mouth twitching while he fought down laughter. 

“I’m unique that way.” You informed him dryly. “Well uh…much as I’d like to stay, I better go annoy Sasori and let him know I’m sick of waiting. I might as well, Leader ordered it and I don’t want to get strung out in front of the firing squad for refusing to talk to Sasori."

“What? He’s letting you wait, un?”

“Yeah, I’d say.”

Deidara blinked, like he’d seen a ghost. “Are you serious? He never makes people wait; it goes against his policy, un.”

“The way he’s dragging his feet on the issue I would think he has the patience of a saint.”

“No way in hell. If he’s making you wait, something’s up. Be careful.”

“Thanks Deidara. I’ll watch myself. Where can I find him, do you know?”

In spite of wanting you to stay, it was clear that you were trying to leave gracefully. He'd let it go for now. “Probably in his studio. If not there, then he’s out in the yard.”

“Alright. See you.” You strode over and surprised the artist by leaning down, grasping his shirt and kissing him firmly. You broke away while he was startled, winked, and left the room. He wasn't sure what your game was, if you were shy or purposefully trying to drive him mad, but he was determined for the situation to go as planned next time. 

Time to go bother Sasori.


	13. Truth Under Pain of Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pein orders you and Itachi to torture a married couple for information on two jinchuuriki. On and off; find yourself opening up to unlikely people in even more unlikely ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Deidara: It's getting confusing, un.
> 
> Rhig: Yes, quite. Sorry folks, I'm not sure how it happened for a second time but the order of the chapters got ruined. I edited them chronologically of course (how else would I do it?) except somehow chapter 13 got posted twice, one in draft, and chapter 'Nightfall and Daybreak' never went through, though I'm positive I posted it when I was done editing. o.o' Curiouser and curiouser!! At any rate, its fixed now. Sorry for the inconvenience!!

Truth Under Pain of Death

 

Knock.  
 _Knock._  
 **Knock.**  
 _ **KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!**_

A supremely irritated redhead wrenched the door of his studio open to find you standing there, fist poised to knock once again. He had been prepared to tell the offender off, but when his eyes fell on you his mind swerved towards other plans.

“Come in.” He told you, a hint of annoyance tainting his otherwise smooth tone.

You grinned and entered.

“Close the door behind you.” He ordered while on his way to a table where his beloved Kazekage puppet was being reassembled. 

You frowned slightly. “Don’t want any witnesses for this next part, eh?” Nevertheless, you obliged. His hazel eyes flicked in your direction from where he was bent over the puppet. He turned back and picked up a rather formidable-looking instrument so he could continue tinkering. “We need to talk.” He informed you stiffly. “And unlike last time, you will hear me out if it kills you.”

“Oh really now.” You were amused. “Don't worry about me running off this time. It’s not as though you’re my stalker ex-boyfriend.”  
“This is no joking matter.” He informed you flatly. “We have orders from the Leader. You are to train with me until we are both better able to handle ourselves in close range combat. This is mandatory. There is no getting out of it so we best work on it immediately if not sooner.” You broke into laughter, which earned you a slightly heated glare from the Puppet Master. “What the hell is so amusing, woman?”

“ _You_ are, Sasori! I’ve known about this for awhile now and you’ve been procrastinating on asking, but I figured it was something meant more for you than for me since I don’t have as many difficulties with close-range combat as you do. Let’s put it this way…at least I can defend myself when the need arises, but if you don’t have a puppet Sasori, you’re fucked up the asshole without a condom now that you're human.”

“Condom.” He stared at you blankly. It was interesting how even though he was no longer a puppet himself, he still retained the ‘emotion’ and the appearance of one.

“Oh that’s right, you’re a virgin aren't you?” 

“Of course not.” He objected. He didn't need to say a word about it, but he'd prefer not to let you get the wrong idea. You should know better than that.

“It’s okay. So am I."

“Shocking." Sasori muttered under his breath and went across his workshop to rummage through a box of parts. "Given how much you've been screwing around, I'd think you weren't."

You felt heat crawling under your skin, rising to your cheeks. You were happy that the room wasn’t well lit and was half in shadow, so you went to the more shadowed area and pretended to examine a mostly finished puppet hanging on a hook. “A long time ago…I must’ve been thirteen at the time; I started dating my first boyfriend. I don’t remember too much aside from how he was the black-haired, golden-eyed ‘it’ kid, the one that most of the girls wanted in the Academy. But he was too picky for his own good; I guess we ended up going out only because he lost a bet. I don’t remember exactly how he got me to agree to sleeping with him, but the second he…uh…how do you put it…”

”--popped your cherry?” Sasori supplied helpfully from across the room, making your blush intensify. “I told you I'm a virgin.” You objected softly. “I remembered being forced to stay over a cousin’s house when my parents had to leave the country for a time. My cousin was in pain and when I asked her where it hurt…" You scoffed a little at the memory, "...she told me that there was nothing I could do. Since I was so incensed over that, believing she thought me incompetent as a medic apprentice, she decided to tell me that the ‘other night’ she gave herself to her boyfriend that she was in such pain since she lost her virginity. Apparently it doesn’t go away immediately for everyone.”

“I’ve heard that myself. So the point is?” Sasori agreed and asked mutedly, his voice barely discernable over the racket of rummaging through a box. 

You smirked. “I remember how she was in such agony for a few days, but it dimmed down towards the end of the week. I was worried that it’d be just as bad for me, if not worse, and I know the girl had a higher pain threshold than most people. Remembering how bad it was for her and considering it might be worse for me…I just couldn’t go through with it, and I didn’t feel like saying ‘no’ either.”

" 'Didn’t feel like it'? ” He echoed, halting what he was doing to give you a disbelieving look. “It is only a word. What’s the problem with saying it?”

You ignored that; lifting your hands and mimed the next part. “Instead of speaking up I grabbed the front of his throat, dug my fingers into it and around something that I found under the skin, pressed my thumb on the other side and pulled it out…as though it was a door handle. Blood sprayed everywhere; all over me, all over the bed and the headboard, a little on the wall.” You ambled towards another table you hadn’t seen before and examined what was sitting atop it. There were various bottles and containers, test tubes and beakers, a Bunsen burner, glass stirring rods in varying states of health (some were melted), and other things. There was a row plants there and they weren’t doing so well. You could identify them all, having attended a greenhouse once. You mussed the leaves of one of the healthier plants, making the film of gray dust fall from its now glossy leaves.

“I suppose he was good for something though. After I killed him I realized that I had absolutely zero problems with taking a life, which up until then was an issue for me since it was fairly early on, when I was still a med apprentice. His blood and his body were the only things covering me. I should have screamed. Most girls probably would. But I realized that it wasn’t a big deal. From then on I became…I suppose… _disturbingly_ proficient in cleaning blood from skin, as my sensei put it.”

A genuinely ice-cold smile pulled across Sasori’s perfect mouth during the story. He had paused, closed his eyes, and visualized each detail, even the ones you didn't supply. His eyes drew open lazily, a bizarre new respect filling them. “You lost a different kind of virginity that day."

You paused, uncertain. But he was right. “Yes. It almost happened…but at the last second, I couldn't. That was the first time I ever killed. And...I enjoyed it.” A grim comparison to be sure. Another kind of virginity indeed, where you did it with your bare hands, no accessories required. Those hands were meant to heal, not be stained with gore. Hands which should have remained pure, not tainted by wickedness. It was as though you were waiting for an excuse, even if it was a poor one. An excuse to try your hand at this shadowy, miserable business of taking lives. What had been your inspiration? 

In a word? Curiosity.

Since the day you had killed it became an addiction and there were many unexplained murders. You needed test subjects in order for you to grow and change as a kunoichi. Your sensei, once you asked him, refused to teach you certain things…for instance, how to make poison. You saw that he was almost completely useless to you on that subject, save for schooling you in the various types of medical jutsus. So while he said you should practice on animals, you did, but only when he was around to supervise training. No one found out that all those unsolved murders had been your doing. And your sensei, even if the proof had been right in front of him, was too weak to understand what kind of monster he was nurturing, what had been cultivated on his watch.

Blood, blood. All shades of red coated your soul, and there wasn’t a part of you that hadn’t been soaked in crimson at some point of your life.

Ideas were filling his cunning, visual mind. Sasori imagined you soaked in all that blood, but with nothing else on _except_ that bright color. You were still ‘pure’ to him, yet he had long ago supposed that you were not still intact at your age. “You’re full of surprises, Saiya.” He murmured softly, almost hungrily, his hazel orbs out of focus against the misshapen backdrop of the wall before him.

You turned to look towards him from where you stood in shadow. You were surprised he thought that. But you said nothing in response. What _do_ you say to that, aside from something idiotic used to garner further compliments like, ‘ya really think so?’

Sasori carried a few things over to his work table and set them down, then strode across the room towards you; instinctively picking his way around the crates set on the floor and the puppet shells hanging from the track on the ceiling. He was so used to this studio of his that he didn’t need to give a spare thought to avoid breaking an ankle.

Your attention was attracted towards the sound of his footsteps. Sasori, being the Puppet Master he is, had little need for learning the catlike stealth that most ninja come to master. Since he became a puppet for the better part of his life, he used to creak and rattle whenever he moved. No. Silence was not his way.

“Sasori?”

He said nothing and continued on his path towards you. 

“…Sasori?” You asked again, taking a step back.

His hands reached out and he grasped your upper arms in a vice-like grip and pulled you closer, eyes burrowing into your own. 

“What are you-“

“-OI! SASORI, MY MAN!” Someone yelled through the door. Deidara knocked heavily and Sasori released you. He went to the door to open it and speak to the one that dared infringe on his privacy.  
But while he was doing that and…much quicker than the redhead could react, you had unsheathed your wakizashi and held the edge against his throat. Sasori froze and did not move a muscle for as long as he could contain himself. He dug his own grave this once; as far as you were concerned. It was impossible to say what his intentions were, but all you could think of was when he left that scar on you. You thought you got over it. The memory hadn’t disturbed you for awhile now. It could happen again if things spiraled out of control, as ‘things’ have a habit of doing.

Deidara, the one whom had intervened and saved you, was confused. He was looking back and forth from you to Sasori. “What’s going on Saiya?” Now maybe Sasori was only getting what was coming to him, and Deidara wasn’t about to get in way of karma…but shit, he couldn't have Sasori dead either. They have been partners for a very long time now and even if they argued more than anything, both men had developed a sort of deep-seated respect through the years for one another as artists and shinobi.

“I’m being cautious, that’s what’s going on. I don’t know why I was so trusting of him even for a second!” You growled from between gritted teeth, anger flaring up from the depth of your mind where you had buried that foul memory. That memory of Sasori’s resurrection. 

“Huh?” Blondie was confused.

“Nevermind, Deidara. It doesn't matter." You snapped. Deidara’s eye moved from your face to Sasori’s, and for a moment he was sure he glimpsed guilt. But with Sasori, its not that he felt remorse for any of his actions; he was only sorry that he got caught. There's a difference. 

“Aren’t you…um…overreacting?” Deidara suggested, a bit nervous about making a move himself. Then again, he also didn’t blame you for being this way. Everyone’s deadly in this place, and you all didn’t get here by being the most trustworthy of beings on the planet. Sasori’s hands flew to his throat but they stopped once level with his abdomen and swallowed an accumulated mouthful of saliva. Something hot and wet trickled downwards, met the fabric of the fishnet undershirt first and began to soak into the dry material. 

“Don’t test me.” You growled. 

Deidara was racking his brains for a way to resolve this situation before it progressed any further. “Alright Saiya, um, I came here to find you because you weren’t anywhere else. Konan came to see if you were with me and I told her you left-“

“-If you don’t get to the point quickly I’ll slice his throat before my arm gets tired.” You hissed bitterly, tightening your hold so Sasori was pressed against your torso, the wakizashi cutting a millimeter further into the tender bleeding skin of the Puppet Master’s throat.

“-LeaderwantsyoutogotomeetItachiattheInterrogationRoominthedungeon! Un!” Deidara said it so fast you almost needed to ask him to say it again. Luckily you deciphered the string of phrase and relinquished your hold on the Puppet Master, and pushed him into Deidara, whose hands flew up to catch a hold of his partner while you stormed off, wakizashi still trapped tightly in your grip. Your heels vanished around the corner by the time Sasori righted himself and wiped the blood from his throat and chest, looking down at himself. The cut across his throat was a perfectly straight line, and it wasn’t deep enough to be of much concern, but a small amount of blood was drawn. The cut stung awfully at the touch of his fingers to the irritated skin.

With a smirk, Deidara inquired, “Should I go get the medic, un?”

“Shut the fuck up.” 

Deidara raised his eyebrows and chose to ignore Sasori’s voiced frustration. “She was ready to take back the life she gave you Sasori, my man. I think you need to keep that in mind, un.”

“There is not a moment where that fact hasn’t intruded upon my consciousness.” Sasori ground out irritably; and then went across the room to the dusty old box where he kept his old medical supplies. Deidara came in from the corridor and checked out some of the newer puppets while Sasori fixed himself. For some strange reason his gut told him that you would not be coming back to patch him up and kiss it better like a good little medic. “So Deidara. Was that a lie earlier?”

“No I told the truth. Believe it or not my mission in life is not to consistently annoy you, my man. I came here for a reason, un.”

Sasori turned around while wincing as he dabbed a disinfectant soaked cotton ball onto the cut. He had no idea when the last time was that you cleaned your blade so it was best to err on the side of caution. “Did you get any of the details?”

“Why would Konan tell _me_ , un?”

“I didn’t think she would, but I wondered.”

“Maybe we’ll get to find out later if it matters, un.”

“Perhaps.”

 

_With You…_

 

Konan intercepted you in the hallway when you turned a corner, the two of you almost cracking heads. Even though she was ready to warn that you need to watch where you’re going, the sentence stuck on her tongue when she saw the look on your face and the blade in your hand, the very edge rimmed with blood. “Saiya?”

“Interrogation room.” 

Konan cocked her head slightly to an angle and studied you, frowning with worry, as though trying to figure out what the issue was.

“Interrogation. Room.” You repeated through your locked teeth.

She decided not to say anything else and turned on her heel and backtracked a few hallways, then led you down a different hall which in turn led to a stone staircase. You headed down it and found a heavy set of metal double doors. She put a hand on your shoulder when you moved ahead of her to open them.

“There’s a seal on them.” She warned. Then Konan formed a series of four signs slowly enough for you to watch. Your eyes were trained on her hands, memorizing what she did.

Rat, horse, bird, ox. Then she placed her hand on the center rectangular panel of the left-hand door and focused her energy. A line of chakra illuminated the divide between the doors and there was the sound of a lock clicking open. Konan grasped the handles and pushed the doors open, but paused before you could see the contents of the space beyond. “Saiya, know that you must repeat the sequence backwards when leaving. This door locks itself once you enter or exit. Only someone in the Akatsuki can come and go through here, while even if a prisoner knew the handseals, they would not be able open the door. Even if they tore the door down, they would not be able to cross the threshold. The whole area beyond this point is sealed.” She then pressed the doors open far enough and motioned for you to enter. You did with a curt nod towards her, your face slackening into an impassive stare across the room. This room was nothing like an interrogation room, but a prison. Most cells were empty while only a handful had inhabitants, all of whom were spread too far apart to cooperate in an attempt to escape or otherwise hatch a plan in secrecy; they’d have to yell to one another with how far away they were.

You didn’t flinch when you heard the double doors booming closed behind you; but the newer prisoners whom had all raced to the bars of their cages cringed, hopes all crushed. You were not wearing the Akatsuki cloak at present because you had no need to. You’re inside headquarters after all. And your gut was telling you that the one way these condemned men and women could never leave unless it was as a pile of ashes in the trash.

So, it was because that you didn't wear the Akatsuki uniform that some of the prisoners maintained a shred of hope. Maybe you're here to save them.

“Hey! Hey you! Help me! Please, I beg of you! I have children waiting for me! Little children, don't you understand!? They need their mother!!” A middle-aged woman with an unused voice called over, her tone thin, dry and brittle. You started walking through the dank maze of rows to the other side of the prison where you spied yet another door. More yammering followed the woman’s lead.

“Help us!”  
“PLEASE!”  
“I know things, things about Akatsuki! I can give you that information, you’ll become a very rich woman!”  
“We all know things! I'll give you all my profits, just please help me outta here!”  
What caught your eye was that the freshest prisoner of them all, an attractive young man, who was laid back against the bars of his cell and eyed you up before saying, “I’ll give you anything. Just get me out of here.” His offer was less desperate, more relaxed.

Hm, anything? 

You stopped and turned to him with a disdainful snort. “’Anything’? Pray tell, what do you have that I’d be interested in?”

His eyes flickered over your body, taking in the purple tanktop that hugged your torso very nicely, the short black shirt with its off-the-shoulder sleeves, those long, well-fitting shorts that ended two inches above your knees, barely avoiding meeting the tops of your knee-high black ninja boots, the fingerless gloves covering your hands, and lastly…he saw something on your left little finger than made his blood turn to freezing cold sludge and forced his brain to grind to a full stop. The ring on your left little finger, bearing the symbol for ‘Sky’. His overshadowed eyes immediately turned towards your neck, where the slashed hitai-ate from the Grass sat. He slid back against the furthest corner of his prison away from you, but you could barely glimpse the scowl on his face. _”You.”_

“Me?”

“Traitor!” He yelled, voice cracking from lack of water.

His voice shot through your consciousness and you remembered it. It was very familiar. No wonder why you didn’t recognize him at first; he was in very bad shape and was wearing the standard issue jounin uniform, except his vest was missing.

“Ooooh, I see." You said, still looking quite expressionless, yet inside you were snickering shamelessly. “And how long have you been here, hm?”

“What the fuck does it matter to you!?” He hissed dryly.

“Both of your old team mates were captured. Along with your sensei.” Pein’s voice resounded out from behind you while he made his way down the rows of cells from the entrance, Itachi alongside him. “They are all here. We cannot afford having people walk free whom can compromise our secrecy.” 

You nodded. “Of course.”

“This does not bother you?” Pein inquired a little shrewdly. 

“Why would it? I would've killed them with everyone else if they were around on the day I made my…’grand exit’.” 

Itachi moved onwards and opened the door not far from you. This one had no tricks to it. Pein jerked his head towards the door and you followed Itachi, Pein coming in after you and closing the door. This was a short, slender hallway, the blank stone walls marked by a few doors on either side. The three of you stopped at the door at the end of the hall.

“Both of you are to interrogate the person within here. He has information about where we can find the Shichibi and Hachibi. He has refused to speak. Resort to any means necessary. We have also detained his family. Attempt to keep him alive, although we are positive that his wife knows what he does.” Pein instructed. Itachi and you both nodded stiffly and went inside. Both of you were assaulted immediately by the prisoner who ran at the door with a outcry of rage, but Itachi effortlessly knocked him back before you had to do anything. 

“So are you going to talk now that we’re here?” You inquired, feeling the need to ask this of him before you got into the dirty work. The formalities must be observed, occasionally. It's only civil.

The man spat in your general direction but luckily missed. 

“Okay, so that’s the way we’re going to play? Alright.” You strode towards the long table running the length of back wall and wondered immediately why the man didn’t grab anything from this table, that is, until you noted the paper seals lining the top of the table; underneath all the instruments and toys of torture. You picked up a rag that was marked with those impossible reddish-brown blood stains. It was clean, but the dye always remains through many washings. While Itachi spoke, you wiped the blood off your wakizashi and re-sheathed it.

“I suggest that you tell us what we want to know.” Itachi said, restraining the man and dragging him to table in the middle of the room. “If you do not, then you will regret your choice.”

“I’ll never tell you! You bastards are the scum of the earth, even the jinchuuriki don’t deserve what you’ll do to them!” The man snarled.

“I’m glad you won’t tell us right away.” You purred, back still turned to them. “Because this is part of what I went to school for as a medic.” You peeked over your shoulder with a mischievous smile, and Itachi looked over curiously.

“The Grass has a few skeletons in its closet.” You chuckled, then took your ring off, pocketed it, and took your gloves off; set those down on the edge of the table. The man watched you with growing fear in his eyes. The gloves are coming off, and that's not a good sign. It meant things were about to get bloody. “Allow me to gloat for a moment. I can disassemble you inside-out, outside-in, and not all of it has to do with physical torture. Use your imagination." You motioned delicately towards Itachi. "Also, let it be said that my friend behind you possesses some extraordinarily formidable abilities himself. _I cannot stress_ how much you don’t want him to step in.”

Itachi couldn’t help but smile fleetingly at the compliment. You smirked in return, pondering that smile alongside your thoughts of where you wanted to start with this torture. Man. Itachi was a lady killer, even when he didn’t try; its a damned good thing you could handle yourself (ahem?) when it came to men like him, unlike certain women who would be fangirling (Yes, it’s a verb now) madly over him. He was eye candy; but not your type...great to look at, and you were glad to be on the same side. If he wasn’t, Itachi would be a force to be reckoned with. 

Off-topic thoughts aside, you pulled translucent latex gloves on over your hands and eyed the items on the table ordinarily used for surgery.

“So when’s the last time you saw your family?” You asked the prisoner casually while picking up a scalpel. It was the simplest of surgical instruments, yet perhaps one of the most effective. You took the small plastic sheath off of the razor sharp blade and walked towards the table in the middle of the room without bothering to muffle your footsteps, your heels click-clacking a little when you walked. The poor fellow’s drab brown eyes instantly became hyper focused on the small blade in your hand. 

“You’ll never find them, whore!”

You paused and looked down at your clothing choice before looking up at Itachi confusedly. Itachi shook his head from side to side twice, signifying that the man was only throwing random insults. 

“Where are the junchuuriki?” You asked him coolly. 

“Blow me.”  
"Ow!!" You had backhanded him right across the cheek, and then asked again. “Where?”

“I’m not telling you!” This time you slammed a fist into the opposite cheek, a ‘crack!’ sound made upon impact. It was a dizzying, sledgehammer blow…his head lolled to the side for a moment. Not only did his cheek burn and sting, but his head was whipped so quickly to the side that his neck hurt like he had whiplash. A large bruise blossomed on his face where your knuckles made contact.

 _”Where?”_  
Instead of speaking he did something fairly childish and stuck his tongue out at you. Idiot. 

You grabbed the gummy thing before he could retract it and pulled it out of his mouth painfully, digging your gloved fingertips into it. “Act like an adult.” You said. “Or I’ll rip this thing out of your skull.” And you let the stretched-out muscle snap painfully back into his mouth. He gagged and his eyes watered a little from the sharp pain. But no real tears were about to come. You held the scalpel up at eye level.

“Now tell me where both of the jinchuuriki are already or I’ll turn you into an abstract.” 

“Why don’t you just take a-“ He paused during his likely pornographic sentence because you seized his shirt and sliced it off of him, not only right down the middle, but at the sleeves so the article of clothing fell straight off. He was built slender, but was developing a little pot-belly from a fairly lax lifestyle. You pushed him down on the table and strapped him down with Itachi's assistance.

“I don’t bluff.” You informed the prisoner coldly. Itachi looked down at the man without an ounce of feeling in his hardened onyx eyes. The guy remembered what you said about Itachi even as you grasped the prisoner's wrist and smirked. “I changed my mind. I think I’d rather do it differently. I want your family to be able to recognize you after all…they probably won’t talk if they think you’re someone else.” You took the scalpel and slid the tip under his thumb nail, then worked it farther under. The main tried not to make a noise at first, then let out a bellow of pain when you popped the nail off of his thumb, however it was still hinged by the cuticle at the very bottom. You moved to his index finger next and worked the slim blade under that fingernail, only much slower this time. He thrashed and ended up with the blade cutting diagonally into the flesh of his finger instead, with the blunt side of the scalpel jammed up against the underside of his fingernail, pressuring it upwards but not busting it away from its cuticles. The sharp edge of the blade was cutting into the bone of his finger a little.

“Talk.” Itachi ordered. A quick glance your way told you that he’d do the talking from now on.

“N-never!” The man cried. Itachi crossed his arms and looked at you.

You jerked the scalpel upwards, deliberately using the blunt end to pop the nail off. It was very stubborn but it did when some extra pressure was applied. The prisoner tried to restrain any sounds from himself because he didn’t want to give either of you the satisfaction. 

“You will tell us.” Itachi said. “And if you do not, your wife will.”

“Do you love your wife?” You inquired casually; eyeing his ring finger while rubbing some of the man’s blood between your thumb and forefinger, gauging the viscosity of it. Hah, he wasn’t a very good bleeder. His blood was so thick you were surprised it didn’t come out in cubes. Already his wounded fingers were clotting.

“Of course I do!” He spat angrily. “What’s that got to do with anything, bitch?!”

“I wonder if she’s a good bleeder.” You wondered aloud to Itachi, who smirked. “I have seen her. Most would consider her attractive." Though he did not think so. “Uh oh!” You laughed. “You heard that, didn’t you, guy? There are a lot of lonely people here. I wonder, will she moan like one of those worthless sluts?”

“SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!!! DON’T YOU TOUCH HER!!!!”

“I believe you know how to make us stop.” Itachi told the man. “Tell us what we wish to know.”

“No! Never!”

Without warning you abandoned the idea of popping his nails off and took his middle finger in your hold, then began whittling it away as though you were peeling a carrot; holding it against your hand between your thumb and the blade, his other wounded and healthy fingers forced to curl against his palm. A nicely even strip of skin was peeled away from the digit. He started screaming again, and blood started dribbling all over one side of the table and a bit onto the floor. Once all the skin was peeled off (and his fingernail went with it), you began carving the flesh away. His hand was trembling and the digits twisting wildly in agony, his screams filling your ears. But neither you nor Itachi so much as winced at the volume. You needed to hold his middle finger still while you continued to calmly slice piece after piece of muscle, blood vessels and nerves away until the bone was exposed. The Uchiha lifted a hand as a signal for you to pause, his impenetrable orbs focusing on the tortured prisoner before the two of you.

“Will you talk _now_?” He inquired.

“N..n…no..”

Itachi motioned to you to continue, which you did. Now it was the bone of his finger that you were shearing off little by little. You grew bored of it quickly and dropped his hand by his side and paused to consider his naked trunk.

“I always wanted to perform open-heart surgery.”

It was cause for great alarm in this man. He didn’t want to die! He had a family! And if he didn’t stay alive, nothing was stopping you and your partner-in-crime from moving on to his wife for info! Although technically nothing was stopping you _now_. Pein was watching from behind the reflective glass window. He couldn’t help thinking it; that he was glad you were on his side.

“Then do so.” Itachi offered.

“I think I will.” You made a few incisions and opened a flap of skin up, then sighed and set the scalpel down and started digging into his flesh with the greatest tools of all…your hands. “But there’s one issue.”

"Ah..AH! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

Itachi raised his voice. “What would that be?"

“I’m not a surgeon so I’m not trained on it! Oh well I’ll just go by best guess. That’s all science is, is best guess, right?” You had to shout over the bellows of pain. 

Itachi’s eyes roamed towards the man’s face. His eyes were bulging out of their sockets from the intensity of his pain. “AHHHH!!!! NO! NO, STOP!! PLEASE!!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

Itachi's query was the same as it had been. “Will you tell us what we want to know?” You retracted your dripping red hands from the chest cavity and waited a moment, tossing your head to flick a stray lock of hair aside. His ragged voice faltered and he started thinking of it. Should he? No. Sacrificing a few lives was better than allowing this criminal organization to get a hold of both of the jinchuuriki. If Akatsuki gained possession of them, more than just a handful of people would die.

Itachi motioned for you to continue yet again, which you did. You dug your latex-gloved fingers into his flesh, pulling at muscle and sinew, the flesh closing around your wrists squish and squelching eerily. It was quick work, uncovering the ribcage in order to snip through any cartilage with the scalpel. Again, he was shrieking his vocal chords raw. Your fingers are not razor-tipped after all. A dull instrument can cause a hell of a lot more hurt than a sharp one. Instead of ‘open-heart surgery’ you were just pawing through his insides with no particular goal other than to cause him a momentous amount of pain. Blood was spilling everywhere, staining anything it touched. A few times you needed to pause and scoop a palmful or so of blood out of the hole you made and let it spill on the guy’s torso. The liquid rolled easily over his legs and sides, effortlessly staining his skin. His screaming was incessant, louder and louder, until he could scream no more. 

“Tell us and she will stop.” Itachi told the man boredly during a break in the tortured howls. “Continue refusing us and you will not be the only one suffering like this.” He had his arms and ankles crossed, leaning a hip against the side of the table which wasn't lacquered up with blood. He looked down his nose at the prisoner.

Alas, those vocal chords of his were worked so raw in such a short span of time, that abruptly his voice faltered when you renewed his torment. In order to see for sure, you forced his mouth open with bloodied fingers on either side of his jaw, and held your breath while peering inside, snatching a small penlight from the table and shining it down his throat. You leaned back, looking grim.

“I overdid it.”

“What do you mean?”

“His vocal chords may have ruptured. It’s possible he won't be able to speak properly for days, if at all.” 

Itachi wasn’t bothered. “Are you able to heal them?”

“Of course I can, but let’s see if he’s able to talk first. Where are his wife and kids?”

Itachi went to the door and opened it, poking his head into the hallway and calling for someone. He pushed the door wide open and a rush of new air greeted you where you stood whilst listening for who it was that was arriving with the hostages. It turned out to be Hidan. You rolled your eyes…talk about having a wolf watch the sheep.

“What!?” Hidan asked teasingly, kicking the door shut behind him while he hauled a crying mess of a woman into the room. You locked your amethyst gaze on the female whom your prisoner was now watching with disbelieving bloodshot eyes. 

“Tell them! Tell them Ryota, please!” She begged frantically and tearfully from where Hidan had her kneeling on the floor. She hung her head and let more big tears course down her dirt-smudged cheeks, but Hidan grabbed her by the hair and jerked her head back up mercilessly. She yelped in pain. Apparently Ryota’s wife had been treated very badly herself. Or that’s what you would’ve thought if she was wounded, but she wasn’t. From the looks of it all that happened up until now was that she had been thrown in a filthy jail cell and starved half to rot. 

“No…no Emi..I cannot.” The wearied, tortured Ryota protested quietly, his abused voice was broken and did not convey emotion easily.

“What about our-“

“-don’t you say it Emi.” The man stated flatly.

You watched this interaction suspiciously and said, “Hidan, stand her up.” Then you walked towards her while Hidan almost enthusiastically obeyed. He enjoyed this business of hurting others. You pushed her shirt up and examined her belly with your eyes first, then you pressed your fingers against the firm, somewhat portly surface, eyes now scanning over the rest of her frame while you stripped your gloves off and then tested her body-mass index by pinching her arm.

“Entering your second trimester, Emi?” You asked her softly, and immediately heard Hidan rumble with dark laughter. “Whose is it, your husband’s or someone else’s, hmm?”

“I’d never-! How dare you!” 

You smirked and turned to her husband, throwing your bloody gloves next to him. “So _this_ is why you’re struggling so hard to stay alive. But you plan is going to fail you…Ryota, is it? How long do you expect us to keep you around if you have proven yourself entirely useless to us? I wonder, how much longer will you bite your tongue now that we know your wife is with child?”

His eyes flooded with the greatest amount of fear you’d seen in him yet. But Itachi and Hidan’s patience was wearing thin. You guys had been doing this for over an hour now. 

“Just fucking Tsukiyomi him already, will you?!” Hidan snapped at Itachi. 

“He will not survive.” Itachi pointed out, more for the benefit of the prisoners than anybody else. The scare tactics would never end.  
“Then perhaps his wife instead, if you’re willing?” You suggested. “Or maybe I should go with a premature c-section here and now...you guys want to see your _baby_ before you die, right?”

Itachi strode towards Emi and placed himself in front of her. “Look at me.” He commanded her, but she squeezed her jade green eyes shut and turned her head away. Hidan took this chance to inflict further torment on her and had a kunai out in an instant. The blade was pressed to the inside of her left thigh, his other hand was still entangled in her matted hair. “Obey him or this is going into your pussy.” He hissed, his hot breath itching at her ear. Her fearful eyes flew open and focused slowly on Itachi’s. It was a horrible mistake. She would’ve endured less pain if Hidan fucked her with a knife.

Itachi _literally_ took a split second to find out the information that he sought, and when he was done, closed his eyes and turned away. “The child in her womb is meant for the use of re-sealing the Shichibi.” He said. “Kill it.”

Hidan did just that. He buried the kunai deep into the area of her belly where it was the deepest, and he stabbed it in over and over in various areas, going way overboard and making her cry out in pain over and over with every stab. Tears and blood gushed from her. Hidan had let her fall to the ground and he continued stabbing the shit out of her until he personally felt better. Itachi then moved towards Ryota, his Sharingan bearing down into those dull brown eyes. He had to check the information that Emi gave him against the info in Ryota’s head. A moment later the man was dead, his soul shattered like how his wife’s was. Her outcries stemmed only from the animal pain of her shell.

You looked at Itachi curiously. He bent his head and closed his eyes, rubbing the eyelids in slow, gentle circles. “Both of them told me the truth. I now know where both of the jinchuuriki are.” The Uchiha informed you. You nodded. “Itachi, your eyes. Let me see them.”

Since the last incident involving you hunting him down, he deemed it best to play along, and he did. He lowered his hands and opened his eyes to look into yours.

“That’s nice…I meant your Sharingan, dipstick.” 

He grunted in response but did as you asked and allowed his beautiful black orbs to mutate into crimson color dotted with three black tomoe. The colors were faded though, and were heavily bloodshot also. But you could tell from how alert he was that it wasn’t from exhaustion. “I can fix this for you Itachi.” You told him matter-of-factly. He took a step back from you, but you grabbed his shirt and dragged him closer. “That’s not a question.” You snapped. “If you go blind what will you do with yourself?”

“I will adjust.” He answered.

“There’s no need for that okay?” You countered, then said, “Listen, now’s not the place for it, but I will fix it later, okay? And when I’m done, you shouldn't need to worry about overusing your Sharingan again.”

This really captured his interest. Was that really possible?

“Very well. Until then.” Itachi swept out of the room, his cloak streaming behind him. Hidan ambled towards the mess of a man strapped down to the table. Your eyes strayed towards his curiously, mirroring the violet in the Jashin follower’s irises. “What is it?” You inquired.

“Nah. Nothin’.” He responded before turning and leaving. “Just didn’t think you had ‘it’ in you is all.”

“Wow. One whole sentence without a single cuss in it, are you ill Hidan?”

“Like hell I am.” He turned and left the room with a twisted yet amused scowl. You watched him go then turned and went to the other table where your gloves rested. You picked one up and pulled it on, then grabbed the other and dragged it on over your fingertips. A voice disturbed your train of thoughts before it even left the station, so to speak. 

“Well done Saiya.” Pein said, coming into the room. You almost jumped, having not heard him…which pleased him, since for some bizarre reason he had the urge to spook you. “Oh…hello there.” You said while tugging on the bottom hem of your fingerless gloves one after another, in order to pull them tighter. “Sasori spoke with you?” He asked nonchalantly, while kicking the bloody mess of the woman Emi aside from where she half barred the entry way.

“No, I went to speak with him because he kept pussy-footing around telling me until I confronted him.” You informed him with an ounce of annoyance coloring your voice. A hand slipped to your pocket and you extracted your ring from it. For some reason you refused yourself to turn and make eye contact with Pein. Sometimes he didn’t keep his Rinnegan activated, but usually he did, and if there was one thing you knew for sure about those eyes of his…it was that they were capable of completely entrancing a person if he willed to do so badly enough. Even though you were very headstrong, it would be hard to retain your composure under such an intense gaze. If Pein wasn’t one of the most dangerous men that walked the planet, you didn’t know who was. He could make a person do whatever he wanted, though you weren't sure if it was to the extent that Itachi could. Pein’s eyes had a different kind of strength to them. 

“Will you two finally be working together then?" Pein posed his question as though he was asking if you were changing your plans to go out with a friend. Very calm and nonchalant. 

“Much as I dislike your orders, I will not disobey you.” You admitted stolidly, wishing in your heart that this was going to take less time than you feared. Pein’s ringed eyes swiveled towards your back, a muscle twitching the right corner of his pierced lips briefly into a smirk. You had guts to say it like that, with all the indifference in the world, and imultaneously disrespect him. There were very few in the world who would dare.

“You have balls, for a woman.” He teased, eyes once again focusing on the blank brown ones of Ryota. Clearly he was dead.

“Why thank you.”

“I suggest you leave. The servants will be in to clean this place up soon.” He turned and strode towards the door, then paused, a hand on the frame, craning his neck so he could eye you from over his shoulder. Movement had captivated his attention. The way you stepped back from the table, placing your ring on your finger and twisting it this way and that mindlessly…walking across the room towards the door, eyes fixated still on your hand, he noticed that you did indeed move with fluid grace that many would kill to possess. Ah, how you had grown from an awkward little girl who didn't know what she had going for her. 

“Leader.” You asked after him, not remembering his name. He paused and turned towards you in a single motion, fingertips sitting on either side of the threshold.

“Is that all you came to ask me, or was there more?”

He cocked his head to the side by a fraction of an inch, and then said, “I forgot.”

“No one’s perfect.” You smirked and walked by him. “Sorry to bother you then.”

He let it go, not at all inclined to respond to that comment. He gathered the distinct impression that you only wanted to bring a certain gravity down atop him; that even though he is the head of this organization, you saw past that swagger of his and witnessed any one of his flaws. How fucking lovely of you is that?

In no time at all you were passing through the dingy rows of prison cells towards the way in and out of this god-forsaken bottom level of headquarters. Voices cat-called and heckled you relentlessly from the moment you set foot in that dim chamber to the moment you had the sealed double doors in your sights. Itachi was there. You halted at his side and afforded him a questioning gaze.

“I waited.” He said simply before beginning the series of seals to open the door. Ox, bird, horse, rat; the opposite of how it is to enter. 

“So why don’t we go to your room and I can play doctor?” You suggested, punching him playfully in the side before trotting up the stairs once the doors groaned open with a great deal of effort. They seemed reluctant to part for you. It was likely because they are old. The Uchiha eyed you disbelievingly, having slight issues with wrapping his head around the concept that you _actually_ felt comfortable enough to act in such a manner around him. But he did not object, and you took that as a ‘yes’. 

“So I think you deserve a warning.” You began, keeping up with his swift pace. “There is a fifty-fifty chance that you might drop unconscious after I finish with you. I’ve done this a few times before so there’s no need to worry, if you were worried at all.”

“How could have done it before?” Itachi asked out of genuine curiosity.

“A few Uchiha came to my country looking for someone who could heal their eyes, even if it meant that they couldn’t use the Sharingan again after that. They had been in the ANBU Black Ops at the time and greatly overused their Sharingan. Apparently Konoha’s slug lady was nowhere to be found, so they wandered in search of another medic willing to attempt it. And that’s how they came to my doorstep instead. I was paid quite a lot of money to invent some way to fix them...”

Itachi’s mind raced back in time to before the ghoulish slaughter of his own family. Yes. He remembered…everyone thought it was a miracle that they had gotten their eyesight back. His own father told his fellow clansmen that they should thank their ancestors for being given the opportunity to keep their sight. Itachi had been there when his father said that. 

“It was you all along. No wonder why you sounded familiar. I should have remembered your name from back then.” Itachi murmured thoughtfully, pausing at a door and unlocking it before stepping in, allowing you to follow him in.

“Ah,” Nothing much to say to that, is there? Instead your eyes wandered around the room. It was larger than yours, and a lot more comfortable looking since he had been here longer to make this room his home. 

“You should probably get comfy; it’ll take a bit of time.” You told him, who began undoing the snap-clips of his cloak after you told him this. “And like I said, this might put your lights out for the evening, so I suggest you call it a night.” 

Itachi sighed and hung his cloak up, and right in front of you…not giving a shit that you were watching and waiting, he stripped his shirt off, followed by sluggishly taking the fishnet undershirt off. He kicked his shoes off. While he was busy with unfastening his pants, you were rooted to the spot, gulping down a hard lump that formed in your throat. 

Oh.  
My.  
GOD.

It was scary how you suddenly felt inclined to permit your feelings towards him to do a complete one-eighty. Originally you hadn’t thought him your type, and by all means…personality wise, he wasn’t. He was the strong and silent type, whom also, as far as you saw, didn’t give another man or a woman a second glance. _Ever._

Your violet eyes widened a fraction whilst you soaked in the sight. If there was a such thing as ‘perfection’, maybe this was it, because he looked like one of those perfectly chiseled anatomically correct sculptures come to life…with his flawless, pale skin seeming radiant with a type of vitality against the contrast of his death-black tresses, which, by the way, he had undone his ponytail and carefully ran his fingers through those silken locks, still not paying any mind to you all the while. Now, ambling towards his bed, he settled down upon the mattress and laid down. You got a hold of yourself and ceased your staring, though by now he had taken notice of how your eyes had been upon him the whole time.

“What are you doing?” He asked.

Twitching, you grumbled, “Being a warm-blooded female, what did you think I was doing, genius?” 

“Ah, and I had hoped you would be different from the others.” He responded dryly.

“For the record, I never thought of you in a sexual way until you stripped in front of me.” You retorted, a faint blush coloring your cheeks. You moved forewords and sat down next to him where he laid on his bed, looking up at you from under tired, lowered eyelashes, an arm under his head. 

“Close your eyes. I’ll start now. It’ll take some time, but I ask one thing of you. No matter what, do not open your eyes. If you get the urge to sleep, do not fight it. At the very latest, this will be finished by morning.” You instructed, all joking aside, and in an almost motherly fashion, grasped the blankets that rested just above the hem of his black boxers, and pulled the blankies up so he might stay warm. You had noticed gooseflesh prickling his skin.  
“Now close your eyes and I’ll attempt to keep my hands where they belong.” You teased, and thought for a moment you perceived a very ghostly, very fleeting bit of pink color rise to the apples of his cheeks. He moistened his lips with the tip of his tongue and closed his eyes, beginning to relax and meditate while you ‘had your way with him’. 

He felt the heat of your hands hovering close to his face, and he even felt a tingle of energy ripple over his impassive face, soon focusing upon his eyelids and what rested beneath them. This healing process was different than it had been when you tried it on Pein. The Rinnegan was much different. Since it had much to do with the six elements, you were able to also use the elements of the symbols beneath your finger joints to expedite the process. Pein’s Rinnegan had responded much better to the treatment than the Sharingan would. It was as though the different kekkei-genkai each had an attitude to them. The Sharingan was something that required delicate handling…like a venomous snake that would bite and gush all its venom into you if you so much as looked at it cross-eyed. _Because_ you had to settle into a form of meditation all your own during the process, baring the subconscious, it was possible for him to see straight into your very being and interfere if he was so inclined. The clansmen you met before weren't as advanced with the Sharingan and didn't have the ability to play mind games. 

So, yes: you were going to use the utmost care with Itachi, especially since if this went wrong at all something certainly very awful could happen; the Sharingan and its evolution, Mangekyou, are lethal when crossed. Since Itachi is one of the four people who can utilize the Uchiha bloodline limit to its greatest potential, he was someone you must tread lightly with. In your mind’s sight, you witnessed two red eyes boring lazily into your own, watching and waiting for you to slip up. They were the kaleidoscope eyes, the shuriken-shaped Mangekyou. Ahah…mind games already? 

That was when you noticed something while healing his eyesight. Rather, you felt it. It felt like some kind of seal. But you would not release it. You felt Itachi’s mind there, floating below your own consciousness. He was floating midway between sleeping and waking. Those eyes you spied were his of course, he was watching you tiredly. Some people who get deeply into the art of genjutsu can expand their minds and become telepathic, and in one or two cases…not only had some in the past become telepathic, but telekinetic. You sensed that Itachi was nearing that stage. Detecting that your own thoughts were wandering; he came to fight his tiredness even more, his mind cautiously latching onto your own, knowing you wouldn’t be able to stop him right now. He wanted to know more about you. This was a prime opportunity. 

Now both of you understood exactly how intimate this was. You were unable to fight, devoted completely to the task of healing, and because of this, your soul was completely bared to him. There was no backing out now. You were deadlocked until the jutsu ran its course. He had to wonder if you knowingly entrusted yourself to him, intentionally slipping into the most vulnerable state possible.

Itachi was unintentionally forcing your focus to waver, and when he felt lassitude further seep into his every limb and space of his mind, he finally receded from his attempt to rob your brain of information and allowed sleep to take him. Relief washed over you. It could’ve turned disastrous if he kept going, kept pressing his own abilities as he often will, only so he can become stronger than before. You had unintentionally revealed this news to him, that he could in fact become a real telepathic if he trained his mind enough. 

Thankfully that was the most eventful thing that would happen for the rest of the night, and when you finished healing him hours later, you got up and stumbled to your bedroom in utter exhaustion.


	14. Much Ado About Something

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Upon receiving some very sage advice from an unlikely source; you choose to play hardball in a continued attempt to prove to yourself and others exactly how valuable you can be.

Much Ado about Something

 

The day was maturing. Already it was to the point where late morning begins to transform into noon for a singular second, and anything beyond is ‘afternoon’ creatively enough. 

Everyone had been going on about their business, and this included you and Sasori. The two of you were sparring outside in the usual spot when the fat, steely clouds in the sky suddenly quivered under the forceful rumble of thunder. Sasori had told you earlier than the storm would probably just blow by overhead given the speed it was moving, but he was wrong. The speed decreased and the sky remained hooded in wooly gray. 

Your darkened purple eyes looked up mournfully at the sky while you shakily dodged Sasori’s every attempt to lay a finger on you. You had decent peripheral vision as it turned out, and even better reflexes, but usually you weren’t pressed into the need for extended physical exertion. Ah well, there is a time in life where everything changes, isn’t there? You needed to be prepared for any situation. Sadly this ‘preparation’ was proving difficult for you since you were stretched quite thin over various goings-on, plus, Sasori was a quick study and he was already getting closer and closer to finally making this while thing worthwhile. You had been able to keep away from him to a point, since speed is your best attribute other than healing, but now he was getting so much faster himself. And he was getting wiser to you. 

The red head was getting angrier and angrier at your lax attitude towards the sparring session though. You just weren’t taking it seriously or else this should be more difficult for him!

“Would you stop daydreaming and pay attention already?!” He snapped at you.

“I’m not going to try to take this seriously until you do, so stop fucking around already and just hit me.” You taunted, which added more pressure behind his already enormously explosive temper. Really, everyone said that Kakuzu was the most hot-headed one, considering how many team mates he alone had gone through, having killed off many in fits of fury. He used to go through his partners like a spoiled child goes through candy. But Sasori had a deadly temper on him as well. Also the murderous kind, but for some interesting reason, it was another type of anger when it came to you. Although he never bothered trying to figure this ‘other anger’ out in depth, the red head placated his curiosity by deciding that he was too frustrated with how long it would take before he could turn you into a puppet. You never failed a mission yet, except, part of that was his fault. But that couldn’t be helped. A moment later in that battle with Orochimaru and you’d be a lump in Manda’s throat for the rest of the afternoon. _Then_ where would he be? He wouldn’t be able to carry out his plans.

Shaking his head out of those thoughts, Sasori’s hazel eyes narrowed in hatred towards your absentminded mood and he threw himself at you head-on, which was something that made you stop and stare at him, amazed that rational Sasori would do something so harebrained. 

You were tackled into the grass, Sasori sitting astride your hips. He grasped your wrists and pinned them down above your head, much like how you had once done to Deidara. You both were so close, your faces inches apart, and he was settled over your nether region. You could feel his warm breath against your face. 

“What the hell, Sasori?” You demanded.

“Be quiet woman.” He hissed, face drawing nearer and nearer to your own. He was very fed up with your attitude, but oh, how he lusted after your body at the same time. It was a sickening combination of feelings, anger and lust. It could lead to a very disastrous situation. He was determined get his way somehow or another. 

Those perfect lips of his brushed against your neck, up your chin, and at last the pair of you was nose to nose, eye to eye…mouth to mouth. He turned his head at an angle and you felt the shivering touch of his lips to yours, pausing before he kissed you, his eyes closing slowly while he did so. But your own eyes remained wide open, positively stricken that he’d dare do something like this after you had proven your profound dislike towards him on numerous occasions. 

Yet in retrospect, your mind wouldn’t speak for the reactions of your body to his, because it took you a moment to wrap your head around the fact that you were _kissing him back_. He dug between your lips with his tongue and you found yourself letting him in, so he could explore a place on you he had never touched before, while you just laid there in the grass that was quickly dampening with rain, letting him do as he pleased. Unfortunately you weren’t as iron willed as you believed yourself to be, because before you knew it he no longer had to pin your hands back, and both of you had your hands rushing over the wetting skin under your clothes, rain water from the heavens soaking you both through to the bone. It was now that it occurred to you, when your hands were free...there's no need to be submissive. You flipped him over onto his back with a growl of effort; mouth finding a new spot, and you pushed the shoulder of his shirt down, biting him aggressively without care if it left a nasty mark. Just like he did to you, once. With your hands also under his clothes, you could see that being stored away in a scroll for all this time had an advantage; his sheltered skin was baby soft save for the scars around his heart, as though Sasori was a living and breathing doll himself. Sasori may not be a virgin himself, but it'd been so long that he was totally caught, unsure of what the hell was happening anymore. 

Hah. That made two of you.

More primal urges were burbling to the surface, and you pressed on. Cool hands slid under the hem of his pants and his underwear, seeking to feel yet another region of his body. He shuddered in violent surprise to discover your hands tracing down his cold-numbed body into his pants, to the place on his anatomy that was seldom paid attention to and as such, he was incredibly neglected. But you hardly touched anything of his down there. You did it only to tease him; because you felt he deserved to be teased for the shit he put you through in this past year. This was not the same as it was with Deidara. 

One of his hands tried to escape down into your shorts but it never made it there, as you grabbed his wrist and broke the kiss, leaning your head back from the breathless, swollen-lipped Sasori. Damn, the anticipation of what this situation could change to was…arousing! “What’s...wrong?” He gasped. But then you woke up all over again.

“I can't.” You told him solemnly, all that magic was gone when you realized what was about to happen. You shivered, your skin completely chilled to the touch. It wouldn't be smart to stay out here. You needed a cold like you needed a hernia, which is not needing it at all. Sasori groaned and got up, showing that he was not even remotely pleased with your decision. Upon eyeing you over, posture and all, he knew for a fact that there would be no way to get you back into such a position so soon. He knew that you aren’t his biggest fan. Lust and love-interest are two totally separate things.

You both made your way back inside, dripping wet the whole way to your respective rooms. Sasori was having a 'problem' and he was glad he was able to run fast enough so he was a blur, that way no one would be able to see _what_ exactly his problem was. Which, of course, was that he had to better acquaint himself with his right hand thanks to you.

While he flashed towards his room faster than you’d ever seen Sasori endeavor to move, you were morosely wondering why it was that Sasori encouraged certain feelings within you to crash to the surface. You were pretty aroused also, but for you it wasn’t as bad as it was for poor Sasori. You could ignore it. You distinctly remembered nearly having his dick in your grip, but stopped before things got to that. Even as you pondered the incident relentlessly, you were in the shower…paying special attention to that one hand, incidentally. 

You finished your shower up quickly because you heard someone knocking urgently at your door. After wrapping a huge white towel around yourself, you rushed to the door and opened it. Deidara blinked, almost saucer-eyed at the state you met him in.

“S..S…Saiya…you’re…”

“Nearly naked? Yeah.”

“Is this a…?”

"Bad time? Yeah. In or out?”

“In!”

You stepped away from the door, walking over towards your bed where your clothes were. The bathroom was too small for a person to put clothes down anywhere, so you were forced to always get dressed in your room itself. The last time you put your clothes on the toilet tank they fell in, since the hinge of the lid was so stiff it was a hassle to close. 

Deidara’s eye roamed around the room like always, and he sat down at the desk that had been there before you ever occupied the room. “What luck to have just caught you getting out of the…show..er.” He trailed off, watching you dry off with your back facing him. But too bad so sad for him, your black hair was so long it just barely touched the backs of your thighs, directly below your posterior. He didn’t see much of anything, except in the reflection of some bottles sitting on a dresser parallel to where you stood. He moistened his lips and watched appreciatively.  
“Enjoying yourself Deidara?”

“It’d be so much better if you were facing me, un.”

“I wouldn’t be able to stop you from getting up and looking at me, but thankfully you decided to just plant your ass in front of my desk.” 

His only response was to laugh at your bravado while you continued dressing. All that was left was your shirt and gloves. 

“Just so you know, it’s much sexier when the clothes are coming off, un.” 

“So why do I still feel a hole burning in my back?”

“I’m trying to see your front?”

You sighed and turned around, wearing your pants and bra. He was caught when he had been ready to speak, but stopped before the words left his mouth and goggled at your nearly naked upper body. You smirked at him. “It’s not as if you haven’t seen a woman before, right?"

Deidara rose from the desk chair and stepped towards you. His hands held your waist just above the low-rise black pants you wore. His rough palms warmed immediately against your skin, and he leaned down and kissed you, which was basically the entire reason why he went to find you in the first place. Deidara felt like being near you right now, but why it was…he had a hard time explaining that to himself, and only hoped that someday he’d discover the answer. He wasn't horny when he got here, but then of course, you were naked. While there was some demand in his actions, he wasn’t as overbearing as Sasori attempted to be. You kissed him back and hugged his waist. Butterflies erupted in your stomach and frantically fluttered around your insides, making you feel high, almost lightheaded and dizzy at Deidara’s faintest touch. Why was it that both men gave you different feelings? It was so confusing, especially because they offered you two totally opposite sensations…one made you impulsive, assertive and feral, and with the other you were helpless, submissive and shy.

What the fuck? It's like no matter what, you weren't yourself with either of them!

Already you nudged closer to the blonde’s body, curves molding against his slim frame so that you both could be flush against one another, mouths locked. Deidara’s arms snaked tighter around your middle and the lips of his hand-mouths grazed over you, leaving paths of tingling warmth across exposed skin. You felt hypersensitive to his touch, far more susceptible to Deidara’s charm than you had been when it came to Sasori. 

He nipped lightly your lower lip. You felt weak under his slightly calloused hands. Deidara discovered that he had to hold you up because your strength was draining away. He broke the kiss and picked you up bridal-style, then walked to the bed and laid you down, his own body falling into place beside yours. “What’s wrong, mm?” 

“I…” Oh, his eye. If only there were two of them. His blue eye, rimmed with black kohl. It was unique. “…you…I don’t know why, but it’s you.” You finished lamely, and rolled against him so your back was to his chest. Maybe this way he wouldn’t be able to see the blood rush to your head, coloring your cheeks brilliantly in the process. “Oh Deidara, I don’t get it. What you two do to me...”

He pulled a pillow closer and put his head on it, one arm underneath it, while his other arm rested almost protectively over you, caging you against him. “Sasori and I, mm?”

“Both of you make me feel so weird Deidara. I wish I understood why. I’m so confused.” You confessed quietly, laying your head on the pillow Deidara was using. You could feel his gaze on the back of your head. He knew a conversation hadn't occurred yet, spelling out what this was, no one declared that they'd be exclusive. Yet, Fury burnt at the edges of his respect for the Puppet Master, and he didn’t need an oracle to tell him that you might be the very thing that drives a wedge between both of them. Unfortunately he also understood that you might get hurt in the process of…what was this, anyway? A war for affection? Wasn’t that a little primitive? In this day in age, you don’t really need to fight for a mate, it’s not like we are cavemen dragging women around by their hair anymore. 

“I would say I’m sorry but I’m not, un.” Deidara said, breaking the silence. “Because you know how I feel about you Saiya.”

“Yeah.” But it hurt because you were afraid to tell him you felt the same about him, that you really liked him too and would be interested in getting to know him better. You felt that if you said it, you’d be wrong and it was Sasori whom you should get to know, even though the two of you got off on the wrong foot, not just anyone could make you blush, small as that seems. Why would it be Sasori though? He…well…maybe it was that the two of you were almost too much alike. Both with a temper, both with such pride, and that’s only to name a couple of things. But you were not like Deidara. He was one of a kind, someone you never met the likes of before. What if either of them were nothing but a potential intrigue? What if the shoe is on the other foot, and that's all you are to _them_?

Two men, yet both with similarities only in a somewhat distant aspect. Deidara and Sasori both are capable of making you feel in a way no one else has yet. As a shinobi, you used to pride yourself on the learned ability to remain removed from your emotions. That talent manifested in your personality so greatly that it shimmered through into your every day life, and that was one reason why your parents had been so willing to make the sacrifice of giving you to someone else: because then...you were no longer the girl that once wore her heart on her sleeve. Your brothers still loved you when they were alive. Hell, the oldest of the boys resisted the suggestion of a betrothal at first when he was asked his opinion about it. Which was something you never knew. But his rejections and loyalty to you, his older sister, were put to the test and shown to be greatly flawed. He aspired to become a good ninja someday. Just like his older sister. Although your brothers were all cast in your shadow. It was much the same with your initial cell, whom you parted from the second you had the chance because they proved to you that they were nothing. They could not help you further your abilities like you craved. Was it all because you wanted power? That _might_ have had something to do with it. But mainly, your dream had been abnormally simple to start with: to become the best kunoichi you could personally be. That changed once you saw that you had yet to touch the boundaries of your potential. Still, those walls are not in sight. You wondered if it was possible to gain control over life and death. You succeeded in part, and then Deidara and his philosophy intervened.

He said he would kill you if you ever got that ability. Because anything and anyone worth it should go out with a ‘bang’. Art is a ‘bang’. And Goldilocks certainly loves his art.

Did that mean he cared about you just as much as those clay sculptures of his? To some ladies that would seem an insult considering his idea of art, such a statement is very easy to take the wrong way. But yet, it struck an odd chord with you. This meant something. All your motives, shallow as they might’ve been, became ashen and crumbled to dust. 

Amongst the Akatsuki, s-class criminals like yourself, the rules were tossed by the wayside, up is now down, east became west, and black…white.  
Your lips moved without recognition or command of your brain.

“Deidara.” 

“Mm?”

“How is it possible for everything to change so quickly? How can that be? It doesn’t feel humanely possible for all my…beliefs…to become uprooted and then replanted upside-down. It feels like I’ve endured nothing and lost everything that was once stuck firmly in my mind. How can this be so?! I don’t understand!!”

To your great surprise, the blond began to chuckle. The chuckle turned in laughter, and soon that became uncontrollable. You laid there, stunned, unsure of what to do or say.

“Ha..hahahaha…oh,I don’t think anyone can answer that really well.”

“Just say something! Don’t laugh! It’s not funny!” You exploded, spine stiffening and jolting you bolt-upright from where you had been laying down beside the artist. Your hands had clamped into fists and you didn’t notice it until your knuckles ached from the strain and your palms were cut and bleeding where your nails stuck into them. Your fists shook with the tension, your eyes were. In short, ‘livid’ would be an accurate description of your expression.

Deidara hushed up and held a hand up, palm flat upward. The lips of his hand mouth parted and a pair of white paws, followed by a head, wings, a body…a snakelike tail, all climbed out of the open mouth. It stretched in a catlike manner, tail curling. You didn’t know _exactly_ what to call it, but it reminded you of a chimera you saw in a book once. The little beast spread its wings, crouched, and leapt into the air, clay feathers catching the air easily. 

“Nothing is ever the same Saiya, un.” He began. Together you watched the miniscule clay chimera as it careened around the room in loopy figures. 

“But…” He held the same hand up that created it, forefinger and middle finger straight and together, his thumb pinning his ring and little fingers against his palm. “…anything can change.” A flash and a ‘BANG!’ went off in a dazzling array of blue and gold sparks. The little chimera was no more. “We can destroy what we create. Sometimes we do it without meaning to. Sometimes we do it on purpose.”

He paused and smirked. 

“Then again, our hearts don’t always agree with our minds, and when that happens, a lot can change in a second, let alone a minute, un.”

Flames of pale blue chakra flowed around your hands, healing the little crescent bite marks your nails left. Your eyes softened, your muscles had relaxed. But it wasn’t exactly what you hoped he would say. You wanted a real answer; you wished the truth would fall into your lap and then everything would be crystal clear. No such luck of course. Anything worth having is worth fighting for. It was a lesson long overdue. And sometimes one will find themselves as the opponent, but one thing is for certain, always: that you need to fight your own battles. 

“I think that _Saiya_ needs to figure out what _Saiya_ wants. Whatever’s vexing you, I hope you get it all straightened out soon because it’s only making things worse, hm.”

Your gaze remained upon the dieing flames of chakra licking at the skin of your palms. He was right. This was too much, you needed to figure it all out sooner than later because who knows what’ll happen?

“That’s two people who’ve told me the same thing.” You murmured.

“Hn?”

“Konan said it too. She said that whatever it is, I better get over it because things are going to get seriously ugly if I don’t suck it up and move on.”  
“She’s right, yeah. But I said it for another reason, un.”

More riddles?

“Deidaraaaaa…” You grumbled.

“What?”

“Why can’t you just say what’s on your mind, huh? What’s up with you and beating around the bush like this? I thought you were more foreword than this, but it’s looking more and more like Sasori is the one that I don’t need to figure out…it’s YOU!”

Deidara lifted an eyebrow at you. “Me.”

“I didn’t stutter.” You growled, getting up and pulling your shirt and gloves on. For once you weren’t wearing anything purple today. Things change. People change. Your mother was dead, and the habits she instilled in you were fading with her soul.

Deidara’s raised eyebrow relaxed while he watched you. Something cold dropped into the pit of his stomach. He unconsciously laid a hand over it and shuddered. Maybe he should eat something, he failed to have dinner the night before and breakfast this morning. Or maybe it was something else. “Saiya you’ve changed a lot since you got here, un.”

“I hadn’t _noticed_.” Came the nasty reply. 

“Are you bipolar?” He asked mildly, completely unphased by your attitude. 

“No Deidara I’m just confused and getting upset because I don’t know what to do for once in my life that’s all.” You confessed, still with the waspish tone. “For fuck’s sake, it’s like…Leader and Konan and you guys all think I’m perfect, or expect me to be. Newsflash! I’m _human_. I feel. Not everyone can dislocate their emotions.”

“That’s interesting coming from you Saiya. I heard that you used to be stone cold, hm.”

“Yeah well I had motivation back then.” You snapped, sitting on the edge of your bed and yanking your shoes on, the stiff fabric often slipping from between your fingers and adding more friction to your irritation. 

“What motivation was that, un?”

“…” You hung your head. No, you really didn’t want to talk about it, but on the other hand, talking it out might help in some way. So you spilled the beans. “I used to tell myself that I’d become a really good kunoichi. But that was just a small goal to get me started. I never really thought of what drove me. Then my parents treated me like crap because I decided not to become a happy little child bearer and walked the path of the ninja instead. Before I told myself I’d become an awesome shinobi, I promised myself that I’d do opposite of what my parents wanted to spite them, childish as that sounds." You shook your head at the memory. "I pushed the boundaries, did stuff they advised against, acted like a typical rebellious teenager. But they _especially_ warned me away from guys, especially this one classmate of mine who tended to get down a lot of girl's pants, so the next thing on the list was to get a boyfriend. Then one day, I would’ve lost my virginity, but I killed the guy instead. So what if I consented to it? I couldn’t go through with it in the end.” 

Deidara was stunned by this last part. Wow. Talk about having skeletons in your closet. Seeing that you paused, unsure, he motioned for you to go on.

“So, my first kill was also my first boyfriend. I never dated after that. So now when I’m dealing with you and Sasori, I’m feeling things that I have never felt before. Not even for my ex. I admit it. I’m confused. And yeah, scared. I don’t know what the future brings. And I certainly acknowledge that I can’t always defend against it. So when Konan and you warn me that I need to get my act together, I panic because I don’t understand what’s going wrong. I don’t know how I can fix this, and I'm a grown _fucking_ woman. And what’s worse, I know that I’m a wanted person. Kakuzu would turn me in for a bounty. Hidan would string me out and sacrifice me for his god for so much as looking at him cross eyed, but I’ve done worse than that: I’ve brought people back to life. Furthermore, I’m sure Sasori is ready to turn me into a puppet once Leader has no more use for me here. It feels like I’m going to get set up for failure.”

Silence took over the room. You were less upset now that you got all that off your chest. It turned into quite a rant after all. Deidara wasn’t the least bit annoyed with himself for letting you vent though. Who else would let you do that? Maybe Konan, or Kisame if he wasn't in a mood. But the others would call you a pussy. They would say you didn’t belong here. And aside from all that he sensed you were correct. The others _are_ planning to set you up for failure. You were not a well-loved person. And this is despite all you've done to help.

“I’m not going to pretend that everything’s going to turn out okay and your story will have a happy ending.” Deidara intoned slowly, almost mechanically. It was time to choose words more carefully. “All of us here are hated for one reason or another. And I think you noticed yourself that we all don’t play well with others so it’s hard to stay in pairs. Of course negative feelings will be fueled. The way I see it you can do two things. Defend yourself is one. And the other is make yourself _invaluable_ , un.” A feral smirk tilted his lips. “Become invaluable; make sure _no one_ can do what you can do. Do that; and Leader will be all the protection you need. He won’t let anything happen that’ll compromise the safety of one of his most highly valued pawns when there is no one out there that can replace you, hn.” 

Your eyes were focused on him where he reclined against one of the pillows on your bed, an arm underneath the white fluffiness, his free hand picking at the bedspread. “That’s sage advice coming from someone like you Deidara.”

He flinched. “What the hell is that supposed to mean, un?”

“I wouldn’t expect you to have a wise bone in your body. You don’t seem the type.” 

He grinned sheepishly. “My man Sasori taught me a lot of things, un.”

You raised your eyebrows. Huh, Sasori? Maybe puppet boy deserved more respect than you offered him. Although Deidara deserved more credit too. A person can possess all the intelligence and wisdom in the world, but if they lack the understanding of how and when to apply it then such brains are practically useless. 

“I uh…better go make lunch.” You said, getting up. “And you uh…better get your ass out of my room.”

“I’m comfy.” Deidara protested. He wasn’t about to budge.

You shook your head and went to the door. There was no point in arguing with him. He was stubborn as a mule when he wanted to be.

So you went to the kitchen instead of bothering with him. 

And Kakuzu was there. He was at the table, counting money. Which was interesting since he would usually never do this where someone could swipe his cash.

“Why’re you doing that in here Kakuzu?” You asked distractedly while getting some things out of the walk-in fridge.

“Hidan lost his necklace and is turning the entire place upside-down looking for it. He paid me so he could look in my room.” 

“And here you are.” You paused, looking at the money, and then got to thinking. Remembering Deidara’s words of advice, you realized, what better than to start now?

“Kakuzu. You’ll do anything for money, right?”

This caught his attention, suspicious as he appeared. “Why?”

“Because I have way more than I need from my family’s death, and I never spent all of my money from past missions; I have an excess of cash. I’ll never use it all in my lifetime. So I was wondering if you’d be interested in doing some things for me.” You began casually, pouring yourself a glass of water before continuing. When he couldn’t take the quiet tension anymore, he sat straight up in his chair and affixed a wary gaze upon you.

_“What?”_ You gasped after downing the entire glass of water in one breath. Little thirstier than you thought!

“I’m interested.” He answered shortly, as if were an idiot for asking.

“I recently got a hold of a bingo book in the hideout…” You continued on, maintaining a casual and mild tone. “…It had all these numbers written in it. Which I assume to be bounties. What if I told you that I can pay you double my own bounty to kill the people who want me dead?”

His jaw would’ve dropped in plain sight if his half-mask wasn’t covering it. “Double?”  
Shit. That’s a LOT of money.

“And of course, there’s other things I could pay you for as well down the road, but mainly I’m interested in getting this damned bounty off my head. It doesn’t bode well for me. I’d like this done as soon as possible. Oh, and…you’ll get a few thousand extra if you make the bastards bleed dry and leave them to be found by the local authorities. This way I can see proof of your work in the morning news. And then you’ll get your bingo book back when it’s all said and done.” 

He watched you while you ignored his look of utter disbelief. First of all, how the fuck did you get his book? No one stole from him. No one! 

“Keep in mind this will be the biggest job I’d hire you for.” You added at the end. “And by the way; I’ll know if you don’t kill the real deal. So don’t try faking it if you want to be paid.”

Without warning he had scooped up all his cash and exited the room. You blinked up at the door and called after him, “IS THAT A YES?”

No answer.  
You went back to your cooking, but your mind was only partially on task. There were other things to contemplate. If you want to survive here, you either ante or fold. No way in hell did you intend to let the others trample you down. You weren’t about to let things go rotten to the core at this point. If you could avoid dealing with the bullshit that the others were preparing to put you through, you’d do everything in your power to roll with the punches and evade any severe damage, mental or otherwise. You’d make yourself invaluable alright. Liked? Loved? Maybe not. But this isn’t a popularity contest. It’s survival of the fittest. If people started enjoying your company that would be nothing but a side bonus. 

“What you thinking about?” A slightly gruff voice inquired. It was Kisame, but he was alone.

“Blueberry-kun!” You were startled and almost sliced your knuckles. If your fingertips had been aligned with the leek you were chopping you would’ve had bloody stumps. It was wiser to cut things with your fingers curled inwards. It was good that you practiced that safety. “Sorry, I didn’t notice you come in.”

“That’s a first.” He chuckled. Usually people notice a blue dude walking into the same room as them.   
“Eh, sorry I guess?”

“Nah. Don’t worry about it.” He got some water to drink. 

“You look exhausted.” You commented.

“Thanks to you, yeah. Ever since a few weeks after you started feeding everybody, Itachi has tons of energy and is wearing me out during sparring sessions. At first I thought he just had a lot of sugar but now I understand that it’s not just him. The others have admitted that they feel better too now that we’re not always eating ramen.” Kisame said.

“If that’s a roundabout way of complimenting me, thanks.” 

“Hah! Take it how you will.”

“I’m the medic. It’s my job to make people feel better.” You paused. “No perverted comments please.”

He blinked.

“But I guess I’m not a very good medic if I went around poisoning my own village.”

“Is there a standard or something?” He asked. 

“Yeah. Slug-lady Tsunade would be the shining standard if she decked herself out in the white medic uniform and had a much sweeter temperament.”

Kisame snorted into his glass. Tsunade. Sweet temperament. Riiiiiiiight. 

“It’s interesting how that goes too. There is this weird misconception that medics are like nurses or doctors. But there’s a huge difference. We aren’t even encouraged to have a bedside manner. We're supposed to keep it real and don’t offer false hope where it can be helped. And some of us fight of course. Also, we don’t learn the same things because we work with chakra. Doctors and nurses work with strict science and tools.”

“Yeah. I noticed that too.” Kisame said while getting more water. “But it happens with every profession and the jobs that are like them. It even happens with other things. People always think swords just cut. But my Samehada does more than that. So they think it’s useless because it’s bandaged.”

“Let them underestimate you, I say! Then when they get a reality check they’ll be caught off-guard and you’ll have an extra edge.”

“The girl speaks the truth.” Came Itachi’s voice from the hallway. He heard your conversation on the way to the kitchen and was now walking in, his eyes towards the stove where you were now cooking. The smell was lovely and enticed his belly to rumble.

“Excuse you? I’m not a _girl_ I’m in my twenties.”

Itachi said nothing and sat down, waiting. 

“You guys want some tea? I’d like some myself.” You offered.

“Sure.” Itachi agreed, and you began preparing tea while a pan of food simmered pleasantly on the stove. Kisame shook his head. “I’m not in the mood for it.”

“Suit yourself.” You replied. 

“So what’re you up to these days, Saiya?” Kisame asked. 

“Training and healing your sorry asses mainly, answering personal questions. Nothing much.”

Kisame chuckled at your bravado and got more water. You watched him sit down then ducked down below the counter and rummaged in the cabinet, pulled out a water pitcher, filled it up, and set it down next to Kisame’s glass while wrinkling your nose at his lack of common sense. He laughed at the look on your face and drank up.

“Did you ever put that information from the hostages to use?”

Itachi looked up once you asked. His unfathomable eyes were brighter since they were mended. “I was unable.”

“So what’s going to be done about it?”

The Uchiha accepted the tea you brought him and took a sip, even though he risked scalding his tongue. “The jinchuuriki of Shichibi is running out of time. If we do not act soon it will probably be re-sealed into another host child, and now we don't know who. Our options are running out.”

“But what exactly is wrong with the original jinchuuriki?” You prodded. 

Itachi surveyed you with a strange expression on his face. “Why does it interest you so?”

“Because I helped get the info out of them. I admit to being curious. Besides if this gets bad enough I might end up going with you guys again!”

“Whoever gave you the impression that Kisame and I are going?” Itachi asked nonchalantly.

“Well you have all the facts in your head; I just figured it’d be easier if you went. Am I wrong?”

“Yes.” He sipped more tea and curled his fingers around the hot white cylinder of the cup. “Kisame and I have filled our quota. I have reported my findings from the hostages to Leader.”

“And we heard him talking to Konan in the hall earlier when we got back in from outside.” Kisame interrupted. “It seems like he’s planning on having you go with either Kakuzu and Hidan, or Sasori and Deidara. I remember hearing Konan volunteer to go with you alone on this one but Leader turned her down flat. She looked real disappointed too.”

You blinked. “Thanks for the info. Now I know a little of what I'm looking at.”

“It’s better than nothing right?” Kisame asked with a grin. 

“Yeah it is.”

“Good. Perhaps you will stop bombarding us with questions then.” Itachi ground out. 

“I gotta do what I gotta do, know what I’m saying?” You said, then sat down to eat with them once the food was finished.

But whilst the three of you ate Hidan came traipsing in. He appeared irate in every aspect of the word and as is Hidan’s custom, he began complaining the first time he spied human life in the room. “Have any of you dumbasses seen Kakuzu? That fucker up and left and we were supposed to go get the Shichibi! What the hell can he be up to right now?!” He sat down and affixed the three of you with his agitated gaze, cold fury seeping out of his every pore. 

“I think I know what happened with him. He was counting money when I came in here and then up and ran off after I talked to him.” You stated calmly, rolling a rice ball around your plate with your chopsticks. “He could be back in time for you guys to leave you know. So don’t get your panties in a wad and relax already why don’t you?”

Hidan sent you an evil glare. “What the hell did you say to him, bitch?”

You turned your head away from him and blinked at Kisame, whom was deliberately keeping his mouth full so as to avoid a possible conversation with Hidan, whom more often than not grated his nerves worse than other people.

“Hey. Bitch. I’m talking to you.” Hidan snapped. But you ignored him.

“Hey!” He persisted.

“Did you guys hear something?” You inquired of the other two. Itachi shook his head lazily and poured himself more tea. Kisame however shook his head more energetically. He knew what this was about. You were not at all pleased that Hidan was in your presence mainly because you found out about his incomplete plans for your future. Ever since he got it into his head that he must sacrifice you to his god for the world of injustice you had caused by healing and giving life to people, Hidan had been a little trigger happy and had actually interrupted training sessions with you and Sasori on a number of occasions. He almost killed you on a handful of occasions. Apparently he meant to make your demise appear as though it was an accident.

Sasori was _-not-_ amused by this newfound behavior of the Jashin follower’s, as Hidan nearly always got between the two of you before Sasori could turn the situation from ‘sparring’ to ‘screwing’. Hidan would’ve gone off on another tangent of his that you must be some kind of hooker, but he didn’t really know if you had done anything with anybody and seeing as how Kisame was beginning to treat you as his little sister…and the others, like Konan and Deidara became an obstacle too…he realized it would behoove him to leave your reputation out of this. Konan was the greatest cause for worry in this case. Since she works closely with Pein, she is also closest to his ear and who knows? She might hold sway over his decisions after all, even if it is a minimal type of control.

As such, Hidan certainly was not your most favorite person in the world.

Hidan’s posture slipped very slightly, but soon he tightened up and his spine went straight as an arrow before opening his vile mouth once more.

“What did you say to him?”

The overall subdued tone that was, for once, not filled in with rude expletives had easily enough made you cut your act. He noticed that now had your attention and tried again. “Would you just tell me already?”

This was obviously as close to a ‘please’ as you were going to get. As it was, Itachi was watching Hidan warily, as was Kisame. This was practically begging by Hidan standards. 

You relented. “I offered up a deal and he took it. Remember last week when he killed the maid that usually cleans our rooms up? That was my fault because I nicked his bingo book. The one he’s always scribbling in.” You paused to take a sip, and gestured with your chopsticks. “I wanted to see what my bounty was up to. So when I saw the number, I knew right away that I could use it to my advantage and told Kakuzu that I could pay him double the amount of my own bounty if he went and killed off the people who want me dead. Then I went above and beyond the offer and told him that I’ll add in a few thousand more if he makes them bleed and leaves them where they can be found easily and still make the morning news. This way I would have a means of knowing if he did what I requested of him. I said that he would get the money and his book in the end of it, but if he doesn’t fulfill the extra requirements he would need to figure a way to show me solid evidence that he knocked them off like I wanted.” You spooned more rice into the small bowl beside your plate and began plucking at it with your chopsticks.

“How the hell would you know if it was them though?” Hidan was perplexed. This was a burning question for the three of them, you could see this now.

“Let’s just say that anyone can have subordinates of their own, shall we?” You alluded with a sly smirk. “I reassured him that if he tried to lie to me, I would _know_. And. Besides.” With a snap of the wrist, something slid down your sleeve and fell into your waiting hand. It was a vial completely full of a viscous amber liquid. “It’s not like I wouldn’t be able to get him to confess.” You held the vial up for them to see. It almost glowed from within since it bent the light that passed through. “So remember next time any of you want to lie to me that I might not see through you at first, but by the end of the day, _you will become transparent._ ” The threat that reverberated off your vocal chords warned them beyond the shadow of a doubt that you weren’t messing with them. 

Quietness stretched on for what felt like an eternity before Itachi posed a very valid question.

“Why did you not use that on the hostage?” 

A tiny pout pursed your lips and you put the vial away. “That wouldn’t have been any fun.”

Fun? Torturing people is _fun_?

“I _really_ didn’t think you had it in you Saiya.” Hidan mumbled gravely whilst making eye contact with you. Your pout transformed into a smirk at his almost dejected tone and the use of your name. Usually he referred to you as a female dog, not as a person.

Sadism is characteristic that a Jashin worshipper can warm up to apparently. 

Kisame dead shark’s eyes gleamed. _’Saiya can be scary when she wants to be.’_ Man. He didn’t think you had that kind of a mean streak in you either. Yeah of course you were dark of heart, but outright cruel? This wasn’t a person saw in you every day. But it didn’t make him like you any less. 

This wasn’t news to Itachi however. He was calm about this information. However it did reinforce within him a growing respect towards you, in accumulation with your recent actions. “I will say this only once.” He began slowly, the words rolling off his tongue in the smooth manner that they usually do. “You have greatly impressed me, Saiya.” 

Your mouth fell ajar and made eye contact. It was shock that floated through your being right now. For Itachi it was exceptionally rare for him to issue a compliment, especially so exquisitely. The butterflies that must be nesting in your stomach stormed up and away from the walls of your belly and tore around your insides in a hurricane. A blush stained your cheeks and you fought the desperate need to rivet your eyes to the plate of half finished food in front of you. “Thanks.” You managed, maintaining your composure. Thankfully, the others weren't staring or this would be too awkward. Those were words you never thought you would hear from anyone, and there they came from Uchiha Itachi of all people.

“Well, what do you know? Saiya knows how to play hardball.” A gruff-but-familiar voice intervened. A folded yet rumpled newspaper was dropped into your lap and you twisted to see who threw it upon you. It was Pein, whom was now grabbing something out of the fridge, even if there was food on the table. 

“What?”

“Front page.”

You picked up the paper, eyes scanning over the flimsy, inky, monochromatic surface. Then you saw what Pein meant and laughter erupted from your lungs. You slapped the paper down between three dishes where the others could see it.

On the front page was the scene of a brutal slaughter. The picture had been taken from the side at a kind-of bad angle, and crime scene tape formed borders around a big plot of land. There were five people: three women and two men. The quality of the photograph printed on the paper was shoddy, but it was easy to see that these people had died in horrific ways in which the pain was unimaginable. Blood was _everywhere_. 

“I got to hand it to him, he has an imagination!” You managed, then started laughing hysterically, almost choking your words when you spoke again. “Damn!!! He hit the evening paper! HAHAHA!”

“Bloody fucking hell....” Hidan was amazed too, eyeing the picture and article.

“Yep, that’s about the size of it.” Kisame assented while blinking almost disbelievingly down at the paper, Itachi nodding once very slightly in agreement while looking on as well.

Without much warning the sound of a chair legs scraping backwards against the floor assaulted their ears, making them wince. You were up and heading towards the door. “My turn! BYE!”

“Hardball?” Itachi drawled, eyes boring towards Pein who smirked. “Survival of the fittest Itachi. You've been in the same situation before." The Uchiha perceived amusement at his expense and was not at all pleased about it. But he managed to ignore Pein’s dark laughter and went about finishing his meal.

You hadn’t even heard what they said after you left; no, your feet carried you to your room swiftly and you were almost there already. After barging into your own quarters you grabbed the money and counted it out after double-checking the amount in the bingo book. You put this amount in a cloth bag and with a black marker, labeled the bag with the number. Then you grabbed two more bags. One you filled up with the extra amount Kakuzu earned by pulling it off as he did, and labeled this one as well. The third bag you added even more money to and labeled it as well, but put a comma after the number and wrote beneath it, ‘For the effort!’

You spirited these bags of money away to Kakuzu’s room and also left his bingo book with it, leaving them on the neat-as-a-pin space that was his desk. You were not too surprised that the door was unlocked. He must have figured you would do something like this. But he can’t possibly know that you’d pay him _this_ handsomely. 

After that was done you left and closed the door, then, in a fine mood, nearly skipped away to your room and once inside, locked up the door.

You had a bit more planning to do, because the little stunt you just pulled involving Kakuzu was only the beginning of your mischief.


	15. Shadows of Secrecy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tempers are rising, and you share your plan with Deidara and Konan on how you intend to get Sasori off your back. Pein divulges an intriguing bit of information, and you later join Hidan and Kakuzu on their journey to capture a jinchuuriki.

Shadows of Secrecy

 

“Sasori my man, we need to talk.”

The Puppet Master did not even offer the courtesy of lending his attention to his partner. He didn’t not give an indication that he heard Deidara. But that means he also didn’t give Deidara any reason to believe that he wasn’t paying attention. Yet even knowing what Sasori’s silence meant, Deidara refused to speak further until the redhead answered.

Which in turn generated a specific desired effect upon Sasori. With every passing minute he grew annoyed. He knew Deidara was standing there, waiting. By doing this, Sasori was waiting too.

“Deidara. You know I don’t like waiting.” He grated out while turning to glare at the blond. His hands paused their constant motion, where he'd been tugging thin metal wire around a spool.

Deidara's expression had changed by now. It was a look Sasori wasn’t accustomed to seeing Deidara wear; indicating that he was clearly upset. Usually he was smirking about something. And more often than not, his hands were in perpetual motion around a lump of clay. But his hands were empty and still.

“What the hell’s wrong with you? Talk already!” Sasori snapped after another length of time that only roused further annoyance within him. By now he figured that Deidara was only making him wait on purpose. 

“Stop harassing her.” The usual speaking habit was completely absent. Deidara certainly was off today.

“What?” Sasori wasn’t sure he heard right.

“Leave her alone, Sasori.” Deidara had also dropped any form of respect normally offered when he addressed the redhead. It was striking, if nothing else.

“What’s this about?” Sasori asked finally. His previous negativity had nearly faded. It was unnecessary to be so waspish right now, and his own hands stilled, setting the large reel of steel wire aside.

“Haven’t you noticed how she’s been acting lately?” _Still_ with the lack of his speaking habit. Sasori had become so accustomed to it tailing every other sentence that he felt ill at ease not hearing it. “She’s so damn confused Sasori. Saiya doesn’t know if you wanna turn her into a puppet or if you wanna just fuck her. Which is it anyway? Both, right?”

Sasori smirked. Deidara figured this out long before you had, on account of knowing Sasori better than most. Except, he never really mentioned anything about it until now. “I will have my way with her Deidara. I have already claimed her. Undoubtedly you’ve noticed.” He sneered. "Besides, it's not as if I've made my intentions a secret. I have no idea what's tripping her up." Of course he wouldn't get it. That this knowledge gnawed at you, ever since he made that one memorable threat. Other situations cropped up during the interim, piling _more_ confusing bullshit onto the growing heap you had to contend with. But Sasori, being the absolute cad that he is, couldn't care any less than he did about your feelings. It was primitive magnetism and greed that drew him to you, and based on a very recent incident, you weren't much different from him on that one. With the exception that you were able to prevent things from going any further than they did.

Deidara’s glare could curdle milk. Sasori almost respected this newfound evil radiating in his partner’s presence. Luckily, he could hold his ground without flinching. Being a ventriloquist, he is good at that. But it was abnormal to see Deidara this way. This wasn’t the same man he had known for all these years. Right now Deidara appeared to be…well… _murderous_? Protective? 

Yes. That was it. He was being protective because he must like you. But perhaps in not the same way. 

Now _Sasori_ was beginning to feel a territorial impulse burble up from within.

He arose from his stool, knocking it over in doing so, his palms resting against the table that he had his Kazekage puppet resting on. He was working on it round’ the clock lately. It was his best puppet…and after that pink-haired cretin smashed it up, he was having a very hard time of it trying to patch the damned thing back together.

“How can I not see it?” Sasori breathed, the muscles in his back almost unbearably tense. He shouldn’t feel so threatened. But for some reason, the way Deidara was acting was making him get his hackles up, too. Apparently his mortal coil still retained its basic instincts, which is something that _this_ puppeteer had lived without for so long in his life, and as far as he was concerned, he could _continue_ living without them. He was so used to being emotionally detached that he was actually having a hell of a time controlling the feelings that came back with his human body. On occasion, he cursed the fact that you brought him back to this world. It's all so very problematic.

“So why do you continue to keep acting like that towards her? Huh? You clearly don't end up benefiting very much from it." His eye flickered towards what he could see of Sasori's newly sprained thumb. "And besides, looks like you got your 'girlfriend' pregnant, hn." No, he probably hurt his hand in training or repairing the Kazekage doll, but Deidara didn't care what caused it.

“And you _do_ benefit from a relationship with her?" He responded, ignoring his childish jab. "Again; you ought to know the answer to that, Deidara.”

“No. I don’t. Enlighten me already…hn.” He was slipping back into control of his emotions. And it was purely by his years of learning self control that he was able to calm down. Or else this room would be blown to smithereens. 

“Because for me, this isn't about her _stupid fucking_ emotions. It isabout me wanting to fuck that woman senseless and then turn her into a work of art, Deidara-baka." Sasori paused, shaking his head. With his off hand, he massaged the sprained thumb in slow circles. "Understand; she pisses me off. Saiya has gotten too close and crawled an inch too far under my skin. And I will be certain to make her pay for it.” 

“That’s the only reason why you helped her back there isn’t it, un.” Deidara spat out immediately, as if he swallowed a hornet. He wore an expression that one would adopt after imbibing something unpleasant. “I didn’t think you had the balls to say that out loud Sasori. Hn, and to think, I figured you might actually be enjoying her company because you two are sparring more often than Leader said you had to. Now I get that you like her only _too_ much, un.” Way too much, if he wanted to do as he said and keep you around as a puppet. Sasori's belief has always been opposite of Deidara's; that art should be preserved forevermore. 

“Of course that’s why. I can’t allow her to be harmed if I need her body intact.” There was a maniacal glint in his hazel orbs and that morbidly self-confident smirk plastered across his face. “It is only a matter of time before I can finally whisk her away to this workshop, Deidara. So if she is precious to you I suggest you become detached as soon as possible. Because mark my words: Saiya. Is. _Mine._ ” The redhead smoothed the front of his shirt out, brushing sawdust off while ignoring Deidara’s now-infuriated glare. 

“So that’s how you wanna play? Alright, un.” Deidara whirled around and walked towards the door, disturbingly calm now. “I can play that game too, un.”

This captured Sasori’s attention. “What’s that?” He snapped.

His response was the clamor of a slamming door.

 

_With You…_

 

“What’s shakin’, Konan?” You were sitting on your bed with the door open so some air could circulate through your quarters. The blue-haired lady you were beginning to consider a good friend had come in without invitation, but seeing as how the door _is_ open, it was partially expected. You had been hoping someone would swing by for a conversation; since you were pretty bored. Sasori was locked up in his studio since after lunch yesterday, Deidara was nowhere to be found, Kisame and Itachi were training, and you generally weren’t too keen on spending time with Hidan, whom seemed just as happy to be alone anyway. Kakuzu had also gone AWOL since the time you sent him on that little side-mission.

Konan wore a smile on her glossy pink lips and watched your hands. You were checking up on all your equipment, making sure that your senbon holsters were full, and also making sure that all your poison vials were still good. Occasionally they went rancid and became useless. It depended upon what you made them with. Unlike Sasori, you did not always favor refining poison from heavy metals. You utilized a much broader spectrum of ingredients.

“I looked for you outside but for once you weren’t sparring.” She sat down on the edge of your bed and unbuttoned her cloak. She felt like she was roasting alive in the damned thing.

“Yeah Sasori is busy being ‘artistic’ I guess.” You rolled your eyes, then held a vial up to the light and scrutinized it. “Sorry but I don’t really consider turning people into puppets as ‘art’.”

“Don’t apologize, and don’t let him hear you say that.” Konan advised, trying not to chuckle.

“Eh whatever. He doesn’t threaten me anymore.”

“That’s something I’ve never heard a person say about Sasori before.” Konan admitted while shedding her clouded cloak entirely and letting it pool around her bottom where she sat on your bed.

You shrugged. “He hasn’t been taking me seriously out there.” You smirked. “I get the distinct impression that he’s trying not to hurt me. So because of that I’ve been getting on his nerves as much as possible so that maybe, someday, he’ll crack and pull out all the stops and we can get some _real_ training done.”

“Wait a minute, is that why you two have been out there as often as possible? I know Pein-…er… _Leader_ mentioned you two only had to train for a couple of hours thrice weekly, at least.”

You laughed and shook the vial, a thumb pressuring its lid. “It’s okay. I know his name by now, you can call him by it around me. It won’t change how I address him.”

Konan smiled sheepishly. 

“But to answer your question, yeah. I’ve been harassing him to train more than was prescribed because I was hoping that it would help if we worked more; even with Sasori holding out on me. No such luck. _He_ has gotten a bit better. He can almost catch me. But I’m not getting anything out of it.” You shrugged. "Typical man, I guess."

“If he’s gaining from it then it’s a success. That was the intention. _You_ are supposed to work with the others whom are at a higher level in the areas you aren’t the best at. The point of working with Sasori was to give him an extra edge when he needs to defend himself when not using a puppet, now that he's human.”

“Oh? Then stop this fabulous success, please. I would like to get off.”

Konan burst into a fit of laughter. The way you said it, so monotone, was just too much for her.

You were trying not to laugh just because she was laughing, and while attempting to keep your own amusement in, you put your things back into a pouch and set it aside before moving over to your desk which you treated as a small laboratory. There were notes, beakers, glass and plastic stirring rods and vials and all kinds of items used for fabricating poisons and other things. By the time you reached your desk you were giggling despite the effort not to.

“What’s so funny, un?”

You and Konan hushed up and looked at the door. There stood a rather disgruntled Deidara.

“Nothing really. What’s wrong…Mango-kun?”

He stared at you in disbelief, much as Kisame had when you first called him ‘Blueberry-kun’. 

“Why am I a mango, un?” He asked almost weakly.

“Because mangos are my favorite fruit and the inside is yellow like your hair!” You grinned. He offered a halfhearted grin and came inside, nodding once to Konan who nodded back. 

“You look like a nervous wreck Mango-k-UN.”  
Konan snorted.

“Yeah.” He was trying to be amused. And he was starting to lighten up now that you were nearby. “I had some words with Sasori-teme.”

“’Teme’?” Konan echoed disbelievingly. “Did he do something _that bad_ where you no longer show him respect?” 

Deidara eyed Konan almost warily, a hand stealing to a bag of clay at his side. “Yeah. He did. And I want to talk to you about it, un.” He told her. You watched them. “I’m not getting kicked out of my room, so if you want to be private, go elsewhere.” You informed them stonily. Deidara shook his head. “No Saiya, you have a right to hear what I’m going to tell Konan. It’s about you.”

“Huuuh?” 

“I’ll tell you two the short version, un.” He sat down on your bed and gathered his thoughts before striking off into an explanation, now rounding a ball of clay between his palms, the twin mouths closed. “I went to talk to Sasori about Saiya and how he is treating her.” He paused, his azure eye flickering in your direction where you now sat at your desk, but he continued. Deidara previously made his feelings towards you known, but this would only add to it. “In the end, he confessed to me that he only helped you out in the fight against Orochimaru because he wanted to make sure that you would later on come into his possession. He wants to make sure that you stay intact until he can have his way with you…and when I say that, I mean he wants to rape you and then turn you into a puppet right afterwards. He told me that I should grow distant from you Saiya. That I shouldn’t get attached. Because he said you belong to him…un.” He had started off by addressing Konan about you, but then ended up talking straight to you. Your purple eyes widened in horror, and Konan watched Deidara with the intensity of a hawk. “This explains why he is holding back when he trains with you Saiya. He probably wants to make sure you are as undamaged as possible for when he has the opportunity.” Konan reasoned. Deidara dipped his head up and down in agreement. “He is, yeah. I noticed it too, un.”

“Deidara. That day that you arrived to tell me I needed to report to Interrogation was probably when Sasori decided he was done waiting." You gestured to the doorway. "He requested that I close the door behind me, when anybody knows he usually doesn’t give a shit if the door is open or not. I see it open all the time, but thought nothing of it."

Deidara nodded and you continued while Konan listened attentively and absorbed all the details. 

“We ended up in a private conversation, talking about sex at one point and...honestly," You were a touch embarassed to admit it. "I'm not sure why, but I told him that story about how I almost lost ‘it’, and ended up covered in blood instead. Since he's so visual-minded, I’m willing to bet he didn’t give a crap if Leader still needed me around or not. He came right up to me and grabbed me in a really painful way when you started knocking on the door. I’m glad it was you whom came to get me Deidara, because anyone else would have just walked away if he didn’t answer the door.”

“Not true.” Konan interjected. “I would have. And Kisame would have too. And I bet Pein would not have had a single issue with just barging in if he needed something, since he owns the place.”

“But the point is, I wouldn’t have been able to stop him if it weren't for the distraction. He had puppets everywhere in there, all around us. If I tried to escape, he could’ve used them to hold me." Your demeanor considerably darkened. "Tobi once, ah, _informed_ me that Sasori can use over a hundred puppets at once.” 

“So why did you have blood on your wakizashi when I saw you in the hall?” Konan inquired.

“Because I almost slit his throat after he answered the door to try and send Deidara away.” You responded quietly, picking at the skin around your left ring finger. 

Deidara sighed and tilted his head at Konan, his hands repetitively swirling the clay ball between his mouthed palms. “It wasn’t too bad where he couldn’t patch it up and move on with his life. At first I thought she was gonna tear his throat out, un.” 

“I wish I did.” You mumbled hollowly, watching Deidara's busy hands while continuing to pick at your own. “Because now I see that he’s going to be an even greater nuisance than I originally thought he'd be.”

"And to think, he saved me once." 

Konan's head turned quickly in your direction and her countenance grew severe. "Absolutely not. He drew the score _even_ on that day. You revived him once, whether or not it was your assignment is irrelevant." 

"I suppose you're right." You wrinkled your nose in a twinge of pain, pulling at a little tab of skin alongside your right middle fingernail. A miniscule bead of blood collected on the spot. "I'd think he would want revenge on that pink haired girl, you know, redeem his honor and all that nonsense." You looked up Konan and Deidara across the room. "Assuming he has any, that is. And this time she wouldn't have a puppeteer to bail her out, unless that Kankurou dude sides with her.”

“So you DID see that fight, un.” Deidara said. “I knew I sensed someone else around there, but I didn’t get a chance to check it out, un.”

“Yes you were obviously engaged in your own plans. It was entirely by luck that I ended up at the scene of such an epic battle. I was on the lam from the Grass and ANBU was hot on my trail for awhile, thankfully Leaf’s Black Ops squad had to be recalled and the Grass squad either fell back or got lost in the woods. I think it had something to do with those Leaf shinobi you guys had such a hard time with. I ended up camping out near where that cave was, the one with the five-way seal. Very clever trap, incidentally.”

In a rare moment, Konan was rather smug. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” You briefly entertained a notion before continuing. “Back on topic; I need to do something about Sasori. If I’m right about him, he’s going to try and pull a fast one on me. The ideal time would be when we are training, except everyone would know what happened if I mysteriously ‘died’, and therefore he’d be able to help himself to my corpse. I am not totally positive about how far he has progressed but I’m fairly confident that if we went head-to-head and he wasn’t armed with a puppet, I would flatten him. He might’ve gotten faster and a bit stronger, and he may have gained better knowledge of taijutsu and some ninjutsu, but he also has a very low pain threshold since he was a puppet for most of his life.”

“Whoa whoa wait a minute, are you planning on killing him before he kills you, un?” 

“That’s the plan. Got a problem with it?” 

Konan decided now was a good time to intervene. “Yes. We needed you to bring him back to life for a reason. Butchering him now would be counter intuitive, don't you think?"

“Funny, I don’t seem to recall telling you two my whole plan.” You bit out at them, dropping your hands. Konan and Deidara exchanged an exasperated glance, before your blue haired friend relented. "Very well. Enlighten us."

“Gladly.” You said, relaxing. “If I kill him, I can bring him back again. But this time it'll be different. Since I would literally be able to control the manner in which he dies, I can also bring him back how I want, too. And if I wish I can turn him into a puppet of a _new_ breed. He wouldn’t be permitted to lift a finger against me, but would still have a life. Sasori would be able to accomplish tasks under his own power, but this time he would be bound to me. And that also means that if he is in trouble I’d be able to pull him out of it if I’m around.”

“Saiya. Don’t do that.” There was a strange look in Konan’s eyes, one you hadn't seen her wear before and couldn't decipher. Deidara on the other hand was plainly worried. Their reactions were not satisfactory. “So you expect me to sit around and just wait for him to rape me and gut me like a fish?!” You exploded.

“Calm down.” Konan had to keep a level head. She was good at that, but you were having a hard time with keeping your temper in check. Your pride was going to be your downfall if you weren’t cautious. “Saiya don’t be like this. Don't turn into Sasori, un.” Deidara half-pleaded. 

“As your superior, I order you to stop training with Sasori.” Konan’s tone had slid down several degrees to become as icy as she could muster. She was getting upset about this problem. “I also order you to forget about this madness. It will be taken care of in another way." You were astonished that she would pull rank on you. Since Konan is Pein’s partner she is capable of conveying his orders, but not only that, but she can issue commands of her own _if_ and only _if_ the situation calls for it. She also to a point acts as Pein’s voice whenever he is not present, especially in Amegakure.

“Very well.” You muttered, sitting down at your desk and turning your head away from them. You picked up your slashed hitai-ate from the dull wooden surface of your desk and examined it, winding the black fabric of it around your fingers. Sable depression and vermillion anger swirled around your insides, intensifying into a cyclone, assailing your better sense, catching your stomach and tossing it into a tempest of acidic discomfort. All these things made you feel so ill and out-of-sorts more than ever before. 

Konan got up and brushed some strands of azure hair from her eyes and placed a hand on Deidara’s shoulder. His eye had been focused on your form that remained turned away. She shook her head and motioned towards the door. It was best to leave you be for now.

Deidara was reluctant to go and wouldn’t budge at first, but once he saw that Konan didn’t intend to leave until he came with her, he rose from the mattress and followed the other out of the room, locking from the inside and closing the door behind him. His eye roamed to Konan’s, and she moved further down the hall before opening her mouth to speak. But Deidara beat her to the punch.

“We shouldn’t leave her like that, un.”

“Deidara, she needed to be alone. And you should be with me when we speak to Pein.” Konan answered solemnly. 

“Why?”

“Because I need someone to back up what I am going to say, and since you know Sasori better than anyone else here, you’re the best candidate for this. If you want Saiya to stay alive, I suggest you play along.” She turned a corner, Dei following closely. “Now, we have discovered where not only Shichibi is, but where Hachibi is as well. You and Sasori will be bound to have Saiya sent with you when you all are sent to capture Hachibi. Pein has already decided that she is to accompany Kakuzu and Hidan for their mission to catch Shichibi.”

“So you want to try and get her out of going with us, hm?”

“Correct. It would be only too easy for Sasori to make something up while your back is turned. As you know Deidara, he is capable of brainwashing people so you might not be any wiser to what he’s up to while on that mission.”

“I dunno about that.” Deidara protested lightly. “Sasori isn’t an idiot. He knows that we’d catch on quick, un.”

“Not if he makes it look like an accident happened during the fight with the jinchuuriki.” Konan pointed out wisely, making Deidara sigh. His left hand swallowed the clay ball, and began habitually chewing on it. “You’re right. We’ll all be involved in the fight and Sasori can make his chakra strings invisible if he wants. He might drag her into the fray at the wrong time and make it look like a bad judgment call on her part, un.”

“Exactly.” She stopped before a set of familiar double doors. “Now to present all this information to Pein and see what we can do.” She heaved a laboriously heavy sigh and pushed the doors open. Sure enough Pein was in there. He appeared to be meditating.

“Pein, we have a—“ Konan began, only for her sentence to be truncated. “—Problem, yes. I already know everything.” His eyes opened, revealing those infamous rings of grey. Deidara blinked. Man, Leader could be a bit spooky sometimes, Apparently he wasn’t meditating; he had been _watching_.

“So?” Konan prodded impatiently. 

“Sasori will not be as much a threat as you think him to be.” Pein informed the two of them. “While Saiya does have valid cause for concern towards his plans, he will fail.”

“Wha? But he captured that Kazekage, and if he did that…” Deidara trailed off, his eye falling on Pein’s hands. He held up his left hand and pointed to the little finger. “She has yet to reveal all of her abilities.” 

“So how do you know that last one will help her? It could be something totally useless for such a situation, un!”

“I know because I am the one who _provided_ her with those abilities.”

Okay. Even _Konan_ was baffled now. “Pein..wh-when did you…I was with you _always_ and yet, how?”

“I can be in six places at once, as you know.” Pein told her simply. “The only thing is that she does not remember it was me. I also was unable to continue with her training because of matters elsewhere. I had to pull out of the Grass country and attend to those problems.”

“You’ve been planning this all along…un?” Deidara asked almost nervously. It felt like such earth-shattering news. Pein took on a student? A _medic_ student? He wasn’t a medic himself as far as he knew! But now that Deidara thought of it, this made a lot of sense. Pein was able to use all the elements. You could do the same but by a peculiar means that you neglected to explain. Not many people have the capacity to use all the elements. Each element has an opposite, most would have a huge problem regulating them so that they didn’t shred their body to pieces. In order to achieve such control over all those elements you would have to not only have a surplus of chakra, but perfect control over it. And you had _all_ of these characteristics. 

“I have my reasons.” Pein informed them dryly. “I want you to speak with Sasori. Warn him that it is ill-advised to attempt anything involving Saiya.”

Konan smiled. She wanted to understand more of the situation, but right now Pein's assurances were enough to combat her worries. “If he does, I don't doubt he will be in for a very nasty shock.”

“What kind of ‘nasty shock’, un?” Deidara is no coward, but he was almost afraid to ask. Pein is considered as one of the greatest ninja ever to exist…not just because of his Rinnegan, but because of other reasons too. He is vastly powerful, overwhelmingly skilled, and heavily experienced. Pein’s eyes narrowed and evil-sounding laugher echoed from his side of the room where he was, as usual, entrenched in shadow. “That is for him to find out if he is fool enough to try.”

Pein sure was enjoying this. 

“So is she still coming with us later to get Hachibi, un?”

“Yes.” Leader answered quickly. He had more things of his own to accomplish, and it was best to move along. “You are dismissed.”

Deidara left and went to find Sasori so he could warn him.

 

_With You…_

You had recovered from your sour feelings after taking a very long shower. It was undisturbed this time. And you couldn’t be more thankful because if someone came to bother you, you might not be able to restrain yourself from lopping their head off. The water rushing over your curves sucked the oils from the skin and make your fingers look like prune-flesh, and eventually the water ran from hot to cold, but you didn’t care. The water was cleansing. You always took showers like this when you were upset. Maybe you should’ve been born in the Hidden Waterfall village, or Hidden Rain or Mist since you enjoyed water so much. Swimming even used to be a favorite pastime as a child whenever you weren't working your fingers to the bone in the greenhouse. 

After drying off and dressing you sat at your desk and pulled some glass bottles containing oils in them and also a small sized mixing bowl. You had been planning on working with ‘aromatherapy’ at some point in your career as a medic so you bought all the things needed for it, but never got a chance to start it. 

You began pouring different combinations of oils together and noting the effects they produced. These were special oils, infused with chakra. They could generate various effects on the human body. For instance; after you just mixed together a red oil and a golden oil together to make an orange one, you inhaled the pleasant smelling vapor and then your body went completely rigid. Your muscles felt like they were made out of petrified wood.

Someone knocked on the door impatiently about five minutes later, but you were still completely unable to move and your eyes were watering now too. You couldn’t even _blink_ , and it was hard to breathe.

So it was a tremendous relief when a pair of slender black tentacles came into view and wrapped around the small bowl, then carried it away. You heard a pouring sound. Another minute later, when the vapors began to clear with the source now gone, you felt your muscles relax. Kakuzu was wandering out of the bathroom while smirking under his mask.

“Serves you right.” He said, cold laughter tainting his voice. Once you were able to, you got up and stretched out your stiff limbs, taking a deep, grateful breath. “So how much do I owe ya for that one?”

“Nothing.” Kakuzu answered. “I suspect you are broke after what you gave me.”

“Nope.” You smirked. “I’m not. See Kakuzu, I’m not a _total_ moron when it comes to finances. My father was a genius with money. He taught me a few things so I’d never have to come asking him for cash in the future.”

“I see.” Kakuzu made a mental note-to-self about this fact.

“Job well done by the way.” You complimented.

Kakuzu nodded his thanks. 

“So not that I’m ungrateful, but what are you here for anyway?”

“I came to let you know that you are coming with Hidan and I to capture Shichibi.”

“When are we going?” You asked.

“As soon as possible.”

“You mean yesterday, right?”

“Indeed.” He turned and walked out, pausing to explain once standing in the doorway. “We will meet up outside in the training yard. It will probably be a half hour or so since Hidan insisted on praying before leaving.”

“Okay. I’ll hurry up.” Kakuzu nodded once and headed off.

You began gathering your items together and put away the aroma-'therapy' oils, unsure of when you'd touch them again. After that you changed into something better for running about and fighting, and then pulled on your cloak and picked up your hat on the way out, hitai-ate also in hand. Since it only took about eleven minutes for you to get ready and leave, there was still plenty of time. Once you were outside you saw that Hidan was there too, except, he was laying on the ground in the middle of a Jashin symbol with a knife in his chest. Kakuzu was sitting nearby, looking over a map and trying to contain his irritation towards his partner. You plopped down next to Kakuzu and put your hitai-ate around your thigh just above your senbon holster this time. God forbid that you actually wear it where it belongs; on your forehead. Kakuzu watched out the corner of an eye then returned his attention to the map.

“So where are we goin’?” You asked after looking on for a minute, resting your hands on your hat which was sitting in your lap.

“Here.” He pointed to a region of the map, and you blanched when you felt something leave your cloak and looked down, only to see Kakuzu stealing his wallet back from you.

“Hey…”

“….” He did not see the need to respond.  
Much to your chagrin, each passing second was longer than the next. Hidan wasn’t showing any signs of buttoning up this ritual either. You nudged Kakuzu in the arm with the side of a hand and said, “Hey is he going to just lay there?”

“He will stay that way for a full hour if you let him.” Came the response, and it was not what you wanted to hear. You slumped over and fell backwards, lying in the grass with your hat still resting across your lap. “Faaaan-fuckin’-tastic.” You grunted, then reached behind your head to find the offending uncomfortable object you ended up accidentally using as a pillow. It turned out to be a section of branch from a tree. It looked like it had been cut off cleanly, probably during a training session. You grinned and got up, stood at the edge of Hidan’s little ritual circle, and poked him in the bicep with the pointier end of the stick. You continued doing this whilst wondering how long he’d tolerate it.

You got your answer when he abruptly snatched it from you and whacked you across the knees with it from where he laid on the ground, his eyelids parting so he could glare at you.  
“What the _fuck_ are you fucking doing, you blasphemous bitch?!”

“Isn’t it fucking obvious? I’m fucking annoying the fuckin’ fuck out of you, _fucktard_.” You dusted your cloak off and put your hat on.

Kakuzu turned his head away in a vain attempt to stifle his laughter, keeping his mouth firmly shut. But his body trembled a little.

“Tch.” Hidan got up. “Fine. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

“About damned time.” Kakuzu ground out whilst rising to his feet and putting his hat on. Hidan grudgingly followed his example and the three of you set out towards the destination.


	16. Omens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You make your way to the Sound Nation with Kakuzu and Hidan, but a new development causes a change in plans.

Omens

 

“I hope you’re joking Kakuzu, that’ll be the fifth side trip already and we left headquarters a _week_ ago. We’ll never get anywhere this way!” You complained. Kakuzu was now redirecting the three-man cell down yet another route that was most likely one that could be avoided. “Can’t you do something else to make money that wastes less time and energy? _Daaaamn!_ ”

“You’re beginning to sound like Hidan.” Kakuzu pointed out rather bluntly. 

“For fuck’s sake listen to the woman, she’s right! We could’ve gotten the bastard already if it wasn’t for your detours!” Hidan grunted.

Kakuzu ignored this and paused to consult his map, which, since he was the only one _with_ a map, neither of you could contest his directions without running the risk of being entirely wrong. He might be leading the cell on a roundabout route so as to rake in as much cash as possible, but at least you were going in the right direction to a point. 

“Seriously Kakuzu can you, like, I dunno, make a lemonade stand or sell crack?” You groaned, hopping over the five-foot wide fallen bulk of a rotting tree. Most of the bark was stripped away and there were thousands of holes sprayed across the rough, tawny surface of the exposed wood. It looked like Grand Central Station for termites. 

“Or maybe pimp Saiya and Konan out instead?” Hidan suggested, promptly ducking under the fairly heavy blow you aimed at his head. Your fist connected with a sapling and snapped the poor thing in half. 

“Fuck that shit Kakuzu, you wouldn’t get any clients now that I look at her.”

“Maybe you can make a Hidan doll and stuff it with pink candy and sell it for a mil to some holy rollers for their kid’s birthday.” You suggested in retort.

“BITCH!” Now it was your turn to evade an attack, which was clumsily leveled at your midsection so he might chop you in half if he succeeded. 

“Oh I’m sorry; maybe you could stuff it with little edible religious symbols instead!” You hollered, leaping up a tree, actually feeling the wind from yet another blow he aimed at you, this one more towards your throat. Your red-clouded cloak flapped noisily like a flag in a tornado, caught in the backlash of air following your sudden movements. The bell on your hat sang out frantically.

“Enough!” Kakuzu shouted. You landed behind him, using him as a meat shield. Hidan appeared before Kakuzu, scowling and ready to swing. The blood was rushing to Hidan’s head and he was slipping. It wasn’t hard to rile him, which is a fact you enjoyed immensely once you discovered it. 

You glanced down at your clothing and noted the ruffled state of it, so you began smoothing the wrinkles down; and while Hidan was staring Kakuzu down for ‘getting in his way’, you stole Kakuzu’s wallet and left a bag of pebbles in its place. Luckily Kakuzu’s peripheral vision was blocked off by the hat he had no choice but to wear. And he was too distracted to take note of your sticky fingers. Hidan was trembling with fury and every muscle in his body was tensed; even a small vein in his temple pumped above its usual tempo and butted up against the layers of his skin, forming a long tubular bulge that extended from the center of his temple to above the middle of his eyebrow, but he wasn't moving, only quivering and glaring. During the uncomfortably bloodless standoff, Hidan's blood pressure started declining a few points and his eyes were soon clearing of rage. It took you a moment to take notice but now that you paid more attention, you saw that Kakuzu had bound Hidan with his stringy tentacles. The Jashin worshipper was unable to move. Once it was safe to let go, Kakuzu relinquished his tentacled grip and pivoted to the side so he could keep both of you in his field of vision.

“Keep that crap up and I’ll slaughter you both.” Kakuzu threatened coldly, devoid of all remorse. 

“Don’t get started on that dumb fucking shit again, no one could—“ Hidan was cut off at the pass by the reprimanding and venomous tang in your tone. “I gave you back your lives and I can take it back. Now let’s get a move on already or I’ll shank _both_ of you and leave you to rot.” You growled, all symbol below both sets of your knuckles glowing menacingly, apart from one. You were prepared to back up your bold threat.

“No more long-cuts, Kakuzu.” You snapped once you saw him peruse the map. “For fuck’s sake we’ve been on four side trips and you’ve earned a total of 105 million ryou from them. That’s _quite enough_ for now.”

Both of them goggled at you as though you had sprouted nineteen extra heads. Since when could _you_ tell them what to do?! Though, seeing that this was a no-win situation, Kakuzu decided it was best to just go along with it and Hidan went sullenly quiet for a good long while. It was a little spooky at first but once you got used to it the silence was a pleasant change. Kakuzu had taken point again and was leading the way at last towards the original destination.

 

_Back at Akatsuki HQ…_

“Deidara-baka.” 

Deidara twitched and turned towards the offender, whom was standing in the doorway of his studio. He was experimenting with creating different levels of chakra to infuse into his art during battle and was thus making a great deal of racket. 

“What, un?” The blond bit out irritably.

“Would you fucking keep it down?” Sasori grunted.

“No. Piss off, hn.”

Sasori snorted disdainfully, his hazel eyes casting around the room, observing anything new. “I thought I’d find Saiya here too.”

“Huh?” Deidara asked distractedly, purely for the sake of conversation. He really could use a break. He had been experimenting since just after breakfast. Sasori was quickly becoming more and more impatient with Deidara and pressed the issue before another long silence could eat away at the minutes. 

“Do you know where Saiya is, Deidara?” 

The blond set down his clay and stood up, arching his spine to work the kinks out of his back while stretching his arms out above his head. He’d been sitting for hours. “I don’t know and I don’t give a shit anymore, Sasori.” 

Sasori’s red eyebrows went up. “Ah, you’re over her? This is news.”

“Nn, I dunno if I’m coming or going anymore with that woman. I was thinkin’ about it and I realized that she does one of two things when we talk; she's either abrasive or semi-nice. Except for a few times she hasn’t really shown that she even gives a crap about me. So why should I stress myself out if it’s always going to be this way, un?”

“Women are indeed a waste of energy.” Sasori agreed. 

“Yeah so why bother if I’m not gonna get anything from it, un?” Deidara mentioned casually. hoping Sasori didn't remember firing that barb at him last time. He was right, there wasn't anything for him to gain. _Real_ intimacy was off the table long enough where Dei realized it was never going to happen. At most, you'd both start kissing, touching, and then it was game over...you wanted to just _stop_ when he was becoming aroused, and that was cruel. “I had enough time to reflect upon a conversation I had with her, after I told you to lay off, yeah. But now I don’t see the point anymore. She’s gotten lucky all this time, who’s to say that Saiya is gonna keep on living with these missions Leader has been putting her on, un?”

“Which is why she is good for nothing but two things.” Sasori stated coolly, watching Deidara resume his experimentation with clay and chakra. Deidara snorted lightly. “Sex and strings, un?” Sasori nodded, arms folded, leaning in the doorway. He had faint purplish swatches under his eyes. The Puppet Master had likely pulled an all-nighter or two.“You have pleasantly surprised me Deidara.” Sasori admitted reluctantly. “I thought you would tell me to go fuck myself for asking where she is.”

“Not anymore. I’m gonna try and stay detached. I already poured a lot of my time and energy and feelings into that woman and got nothing from it but a, ‘get off my bed, I need to make dinner.’ And I thought -you- were emotionally inept, un.”

Sasori chuckled at the other artist. “I must confess that I am confused about how you suddenly became emotional over her when she came here. I have never known you to be that way.”

Deidara’s face wrinkled into a frown and he twisted around to look at his teammate funny. “I’m sure you’d know, yeah…lust and hate are blind.”

Sasori smirked and flicked his head to the side to remove a cascade of garnet bangs from his eyes. He needed to cut his hair; he’d have to take care of that later. It was longer than normal and had become rather unruly. “You have failed miserably to answer my question. I’m sure you know where Saiya is. You used to make it your business to know, and old habits die hard, Deidara.”

“You’d know all about _that_ too, un.” Deidara said, keeping to his clay work. “And she went with Kakuzu and Hidan to capture the Shichibi.”

Sasori deflated considerably. He had been guardedly optimistic that you’d be around and amenable to training for awhile since the two of you hadn’t done so in some time. Sasori needed to blow off steam, he was getting a little antsy sitting around the hideout doing nothing but tinkering with his puppets. Today he finished up on the Kazekage and bottled him back up in his usual scroll, which is why he decided to take a break from fixing up his old arsenal.

Deidara noticed this change in demeanor and he lent Sasori his full attention tainted with suspicion. “What, nn?”

“We are supposed to train every week and I cut the training short recently to finish up my work on the Kazekage.” Sasori explained. “I want to vent before Saiya says something else to me that will earn her a beating.”

“Oh uh…that’s right, I never got to tell you, un.”

“Tell me what?”

“That last day I talked to you about her, I ended up talking to Konan and Leader too. I was told to convey an order to you that you and Saiya are done training together. Apparently Saiya told her concerns to Konan about how you were not taking the training seriously, so she wasn’t gaining anything from it and she thought you were up to something. I guess others noticed that too, un.”

 _”What?”_ Incredulity sprawled across Sasori’s handsome, doll-like features. He could easily admit that he had been going easier than he should on you but it bothered him that people noticed at all since he thought you wouldn’t say anything. He did not want to mar your features needlessly, if he had to look at your shell every time he used your future marionette in battle. 

“So is that it, un?”

“Is that what?” Sasori was stirred from his thoughts and stared at his partner with bemused hazel orbs. 

Deidara’s face contorted with impatience. “Are you done with your inquisition, un?” He mocked.

Sasori said nothing and left the doorway, disappearing into the darkness of the corridor beyond.

While he strode along and turned some corners, he missed seeing a rather disheveled, bloodied and exhausted Tobi fleeing through the halls towards the room where Leader ordinarily could be found with an equally perplexed and distressed Zetsu in tow. 

 

_With You…_

 

“Kakuzu…” You threatened. 

“We are almost there.” He defended mildly, not at all bothered by your tone of voice. 

Hidan growled a consistent string of profanities under his breath. This was an ugly terrain to negotiate. There wasn’t a patch of dirt in sight; instead it was all dead, sun burnt vegetation that had grown around clusters of broken rocks and the gnarled roots of tree stumps. This had once been a forest, but the trees were hacked down for wood a very long time ago by a neighboring country before the Sound was formed. Also, it was such an awful place to travel that the shinobi of this nation didn’t see the need to bother watching over this area, which meant that the capital city of this nation had one mostly unguarded flank. And you three were going to carve it open and scoop out the juicy contents; a jinchuuriki. This was the Sound Country. Since Orochimaru was dead, this ninja nation had spiraled into severe chaos without a proper leader.

“Watch it!” You threw an arm in Hidan’s path, succeeding in making him stop before his foot went through a small pit between sharp rocks that were covered over by a dead brown patch of bramble. He would break his leg if he took one step further. This was a treacherous field. It was full of potholes of all sizes that were hidden by seemingly innocent swatches of vegetation. This was why no one bothered invading the Sound from this side; if you traveled too fast through it, you’d get hurt very badly, or otherwise killed. There were poisonous snakes slithering in the crispy undergrowth and a selection of scorpions as well as other unpleasant life forms. 

“What the fuck!?” Hidan snapped. 

“Fine go ahead and break your leg. I won’t mend it though, you can deal with it.” You growled when he rudely moved your arm out of his path.

“Children…” Kakuzu warned, his eyes once again on the map. He, unlike you two, was avoiding every single crack and hole without paying any attention to them. It was as though he had the ground memorized or had eyes on his ankles or some other such unlikely scenario. Most of the time his nose was stuck in his bingo book or his map.

Both of you moved on and ignored each other as long as possible. You were tired from picking your way around every single pothole. You had been jumping over most, since some were wider than others. It was tough work and the sun was glaring down upon the three of you in your black cloaks and hats. Heat absorbed into the rocks baked upwards towards your faces, the extreme warmth gushing up your cloaks and remaining trapped there. The team was in a miserable state, sweating like pigs and unable to do anything about it because you had nowhere to put your cloaks and in case some people _did_ come after you, you all had to keep the red-clouded things on anyway.

You were staring at your hands while picking nimbly over and around every natural trap the land had set for you. The wind sigil.

Now there’s an idea!

Moments later, a cool breeze circulated around you and _only_ you, ruffling your cloak and the white fabric strips attached to your hat, your bell ringing gently in the wind. By the time the cell stopped at the end of the dangerous field, the sun was beginning to set. The dead, rocky wasteland had given out to patchy dirt and grass, like the thinning hair on an old man’s head. There were young trees settled here and there within comfortable distance of one another, while others were clumped together in spots. They were the makings of new woodland. Nature was beginning to take root in this area once again. So this is where camp was made; amongst a stand of trees. Hidan settled down against the base of a tree at last, panting, sweaty and exhausted. If Kakuzu felt the same, he didn't reveal his discomfort.

You however where bright and pleasant.

“How the fuck can you be in such a good fucking mood?” Hidan griped. “That was fucking worse than going up all those damned fucking steps at the Fire Temple!”

“I agree.” Kakuzu admitted reluctantly. 

You smirked and took your hat off, set it down on its top and then undid the snap-clips of your cloak. There was nothing for you to say to that. “And why the hell aren’t you soaking-friggin'-wet like us?” Hidan ranted. Kakuzu even lowered his map in order to lend his attention to whatever answer you might feel inclined to give. You slowly raised your right hand into plain view, then with your opposing hand tugged your glove off so that the back of your hand was bared to them. The wind sigil was still glowing since you had yet to deactivate it. A small, weak twister kicked up around your body and your cloak fluttered and snapped in it's wind, but you remained seated and all that really ended up happening was for the miniature gale to lift your long raven tresses up into the air, spiraling with the wind, the black satin ribbon you had binding your hair back becoming undone and flying up into the air, nearly touching the leaves of the trees above you. The winds dispelled and your hair was let back down, the ribbon dropping onto your lap. Your wind sigil stopped glowing.

This was enough to set off Hidan. “Why didn’t you do that for us too, you little fucking bitch?!” He raged. “We were stuck _dieing_ under that brutal fucking sun while you got to enjoy BUILT-IN AIR CONDITIONING?! What the fuck is WRONG WITH YOU?! YOU’LL BURN IN HELL FOR THIS!!!!”

“Well I _would_ burn…if I didn’t have a built-in sprinkler system too.” Cerulean blue surrounded your hand and a pallid mist manifested around the immediate area, enveloping the group in a feather-light coating of cold water. You used the opportunity to make sense of your wind-tangled hair, smoothing it back. 

“Smartass.” Hidan growled, but afterwards sighed in contentment of the skin-cooling sensation the mist provided and allowed himself to keel over backwards and lay in a patch of grass at the foot of a tree. Kakuzu’s strange reddish-brown and blue-green eyes were focused on you the while he attempted to figure you out without asking any annoying questions. Though from judging his posture out of your peripheral vision, you noticed that he too was grateful that you offered _some_ form of ‘liquid refreshment’. He wouldn't admit it, but Kakuzu felt as if he'd been baking alive in his cloak, too.

“So do you have the rest of the route figured out Kakuzu?” You queried, now twisting your black satin ribbon through your fingers continuously for want of something to do with your hands. “You’ve been staring at that map for awhile.”

“Of course.”

“It’s the direct route I hope. Last I knew we actually have a deadline.” You said, deactivating Water. The mist hung in the air for a second more before dissipating, but with the heat of the day, any moisture would disappear soon.

“Yeah as you have learned Kakuzu is the reason why we never finished any of our damned missions in time.” Hidan put his two cents in, folding his arms behind his head and staring at the sky while it transformed from heavy blue to black, and the first stars began winking and glittering up high. It was a sickle moon tonight, thinner than he’d seen it before and whiter than death. And now, the group was sitting in darkness. A fire could draw attention. Even if this side of the Sound Nation was not well guarded, surely someone would see a spark on the horizon since it was a clear night. The heat was long gone with the sun and all traces of warmth were lost to the night, leaving behind a grim chill in the air. You buttoned your cloak again and curled up within its depths, huddling for much-needed warmth. And you weren’t sure if you could use your fire sigil to get warm without setting your clothes on fire and let’s face it, you weren’t too keen on roasting alive. The idea of approaching from this angle was to maintain the element of surprise. Lighting up a bonfire, be it the robe on your person or wood piled on the ground would only draw attention from the night watch.

A rustle of paper broke the silence. Kakuzu could obviously no longer read a damned thing.

“We should get an early start.” He said quietly. 

“I g-guess so.” You answered, shivering. To make things worse, there wasn’t much in the way of a windbreak out here. Any breeze would cut straight through, and carry the smell of a fire up the contours of the land, further dissuading anybody from building one for warmth. The only thing hiding your dysfunctional little squad were the trees and a slight hill, so it was smart not to do anything that could potentially attract unwanted attention.  
For now, all anyone could see right now were vague outlines and movements. And your silhouette was quivering. Hidan smirked, not that you could see his face well. “Cold?” 

“Ya think?” You spat out, shaking. 

“Heh heh heh...” Hidan chuckled, amused at your misery. This would _almost_ suffice as payback for earlier.

“Shut up! I’m not…a-a…ZOMBIE…like you two are, ya know…”

Kakuzu shrugged. “I’m fine.”

“That’s a matter of opinion.” You sniffed haughtily. You were getting cranky because any food was that was packed at the start of this expedition was finished for two days now and your stomach was certainly not quiet about its growling. You were tired and freezing, since you don’t have the same amount of heat-producing muscle mass as either of the men you were traveling with. But even they were bound to get a little chilly once the temperature dropped enough. And both of them had mentioned earlier that they’re hungry too.

Kakuzu shook his head and leaned back against the trunk of the tree behind him once more. “We will leave early.”

“Yeah yeah would you stop fucking repeating yourself already?” You snapped. Kakuzu’s amusement towards your blatant discomfort was tangible. Which put you in a worse mood and you began spinning a verbal web of rather sticky, nasty cuss words…something Hidan almost respected you for, weirdly enough. You laid down on your side and contemplated what there would be around here to eat. You knew enough about plants, and none you’d seen around here were of the edible variety. You would need to hunt around later, hopefully there was something palatable to be found. 

Then it hit you…the realization, that is.  
Soldier pills!

You still had some but you never used them until you were desperate. Now would count as such a time, when your stomach was a hollow pit that carried the echo of howling hunger, with the taste of raw stomach acid in the back of your throat…all because you were so disused to eating this little that you were ready to vomit.  
The soldier pills you made tasted like mint candy (but anything would taste better than stomach acid) and offered all the nutrients a person needs to keep going. It would satiate the need to feed for a _little_ while, since it is only just a pill. A very big pill, but a pill nonetheless. But for now you wouldn’t be able to rummage through your things to see if you had them with you. You were pretty sure that they would be sitting in a forgotten pocket or corner of your med pack. No, it would be daylight by the time you would be able to look for them.

Speaking of daylight, you lazily opened your eyes seemingly a moment later and saw the rays of the sun entangled with wisps of cloud flaming up over the horizon high into the sky, which was changing from midnight blue to tarnished gold streaked with peach. But you did not feel like moving. You were warm and…wait. What? Warm? How could that be, you weren’t sleeping in a _bed_ ; you were staring at the sky, your view obscured only by the leafy tree branches. And last you checked you were freezing your ass off.

You looked around for the other two, turning your head this way and that while being too lazy to sit up. You didn’t have to look terribly far; since both Kakuzu and Hidan were nestled around you and both men had their heads resting on you whether they meant for it to be so or not: Kakuzu with an ear smack-dab against your belly button, an arm wrapped around your thighs as though they together formed a cushy teddy bear, Hidan with his head resting under your neck, his chin barely touching the swell of a breast (despite still being cloaked), and he had an arm around you just under your bust. Both were sound asleep and looking, you noted, more content and at peace than you had ever seen them before.

You knew you should be pissed off, but were not. You were warm because of them. The cold of the night had intensified your discomfort especially in your stomach for some reason or another and as a medic you didn’t feel like explaining that even to yourself. It didn’t matter now. And strangely, you just flat out didn’t mind them being draped all over you like this. It’s not like you woke up naked and violated, and recently, you were craving contact in Deidara's absence. 

Quite opposite; you suspected that _they_ would be the ones to exhibit the more violent reaction unless they did this purposefully. It was plausible that at least two of you rolled around between the trees in the dead of night and wound up this way without anyone’s knowledge or intent.

Nevertheless it would be amusing to find out which it was…on purpose, or by accident. 

 

_Back at Akatsuki HQ…_

 

Tobi opened his single visible eye and stared up at the ceiling blearily. He had collapsed before he could reach Pein, and he had no idea what happened with Zetsu. Tobi tried to sit up but fell back immediately against his pillow, his brain spinning a mile a minute. His entire body ached and stung with passing nettles of pain. He didn’t know how long he had been out and wasn't even _aware_ that he collapsed until he awoke. But now that he was awake and thinking of his numerous injuries, he was hurting worse and worse. He tried to sit up again after what felt like ten minutes but he was unsuccessful in his attempt. 

A groan funneled up from his throat and through his orange mask. The servants had carried him here after finding him in the hallway and they didn’t dare remove any of his effects, aside from the usual ninja utility belt which would make it exceedingly uncomfortable for him to lie down. His body was enthralled in a tempest of alternating numbness and pain. There was absolutely no way he would be getting up and reporting to anyone but the floorboards. It fell to Zetsu now.

And his conscious mind fell to blissful agony ignorant darkness once again.

 

_With You…_

You stretched you arms out above your head, spine arching and legs stretching out, violet orbs squeezing shut while you suppressed the growl that often arises with a good stretch. Once you relaxed the other two stirred because you had moved. You went still and waited to see what would happen.

Though you couldn’t see, Kakuzu was the first to open his aquamarine eyes and blink at his position. He was facing towards Hidan, whose eyes now flew open. He stared down at Kakuzu confusedly from over the curvatures of your breasts, and lifted his arm up and away from laying over you. He sat up quickly and ran a hand over his hair, making sure it had remained slicked back. Indeed it hadn’t.  
Kakuzu on the other hand closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep, his face turning more against your flat belly. It was very early. You had your arms arranged carelessly above your head from when you stretched, and your eyes were closed once again. To them, unless they took notice of your breathing, you were ‘asleep’. While they knew they awoke for some reason or another they had no reason to believe anything other than you had just moved in your sleep.

“Aren’t we ‘starting early’ Kakuzu?” You asked at last, eyes still closed. Hidan lurched back and away from you where he sat, cursing under his breath because you had startled him. Kakuzu opened one eye halfway. “What of it?” His voice came out leaden with morning lassitude, and he spoke with a slow drawl. He probably wasn't a morning person.

“If we are then you’ll need to get off of me, or else we will both have great difficulty walking.”

Kakuzu lingered for a moment longer. He wasn’t one to rush things, quite opposite of Sasori. Though he did rise finally and look around. Hidan was sitting close by, his back against a tree trunk, knees level with your head where you still lay. His arms were folded behind his head and his stomach was growling. You could hear it. Or was that Kakuzu?

One way or another you were surprised that the men didn’t have an adverse reaction to their situation. 

“I’m fuckin’ starving.” Hidan rumbled.

“…” Kakuzu didn’t speak to this. His own stomach was protesting its emptiness.

“Since last night I believe my stomach has been trying to cannibalize itself." You concurred, sitting up and folding your legs. “That’s when I remembered I have something that might help.”

“Like what?” Kakuzu asked.

“Soldier pills. I forgot I had them because I almost never have to use them.” 

“Dammit, then why the fuck didn’t you give us some last night?!” 

You smirked at Hidan and then reached towards your med pack, which was three and a half feet too far away for you to grab from where you were. Your fingers fell easily short and you slumped. “Too…laaaazy…to get uuuuup…” 

Black tendrils curled around the belt, and Kakuzu lifted the pack into the air and dropped it in your lap.

“Thanks.” You started rummaging through the pack before you found a fat white pill bottle. It was unmarked, and it sounded as though it was half full. You pressed down and twisted on the cap, and it opened. Within it was a jumble of large round green pills. You extracted three from the bottle, tossed one into the air and caught it in your mouth under your tongue, then offered the other two in your hand to the men. 

“Here." 

Kakuzu took his pill and inspected it suspiciously. 

“It’s fuckin’…green.” Hidan stated, not touching it. 

“Oh come on be a man and don’t whine, you pussy.” You taunted.

Hidan glared at you and growled menacingly. 

“Come on…EAAT IIIIT…”

Kakuzu popped his in his mouth behind your back. “Mint?”

Hearing this, Hidan snatched the glossy green globule and put it in his mouth, holding it under his tongue like you instructed. His eyes opened wider. He had expected that it would taste like moldy old herbs. “Itsh not bad.” 

“See? I know how to take care of you people; that’s what I’m here for!” You crowed.

“Would you fuckin’ stop bragging already?!”

You started laughing and got up, dusting yourself off before making sure your hair was in good order, after which you picked up your hat and put it on. “Now what Kakuzu?”

“We move on.” Kakuzu said, trying not to treat you like an overgrown child without a single speck of gray matter in her skull. "Let's go."  
The group left in silence, you trailing along behind the men. A skyline of buildings that lay lower to the ground than those in Konoha barely prickled against the underside of the sky, which had spilled blue over its usual early morning array of color. The sun was beginning to roast the land under its withering stare, and already felt a great deal more intense than yesterday.

“We will need to keep quiet as we come nearer to the borders of the city. We will also have no choice but to hide as we go if there are watchmen out.” Kakuzu instructed almost mechanically, a line he'd spoken often in his past. Hidan gave a nasal, noncommittal grunt in response, and all you could do was nod even if nobody was looking your way.

 

_Back at Akatsuki HQ…_

 

Tobi might not of been able to carry his words of warning to Pein’s ears but Zetsu could. And he did. He went to Pein and reported to him of their findings. Konan was beside Pein in the shadows, listening but exhausted. Zetsu concluded his report and lapsed into silence, which presided over the room in an invisible and more suffocating veil than the shadows that reigned in here, blanketing the occupants in ill-lit darkness.

“It’s a trap then. The hostages lied.” Konan concluded before Pein could voice a thought.

Zetsu said nothing and turned his indifferent two-toned face towards where he could see Pein’s ringed eyes. They were focused in a corner of the room that contained nothing, but he was considering the situation.

“Not a lie from the hostages, per se.” Pein began at last. “They could have been lied to themselves. Or they could have moved the jinchuuriki once they found out that it's safety had been compromised. Since Itachi personally extracted the information, they would've been incapable of leading him astray. What they knew was reliable at some point."

“You’re right.” Konan assented, her mind enthroned in sleep deprivation. “Itachi would have known if they tried to blind him with a…tissue…of-” She let out a sizeable yawn. “-lies.”  
Zetsu’s two differently shaped eyes lingered towards Konan's silhouette. He wasn’t really surprised that Konan was so tired. She had been working around the clock lately on Kami-knows-what it was that Pein had her up to. Even before Zetsu and Tobi left on their espionage mission Konan could most often be found poring over scrolls and examining leaflets, pawing through stacks of file folders, shuffling through reports and scribbling things in a well-thumbed notebook…or on some occasions was seen rubbing her closed eyelids to make sure they wouldn’t roll out of their sockets any time too soon from overuse, as she still had need of them. 

It was a bleeding _wonder_ that she was even capable of functioning right now because no one could admit to seeing her anywhere near her bedroom during the past week. 

“Zetsu.” Pein began. Both sides of him offered their attention to the Akatsuki leader, who sounded more grim than usual. He knew the reactions he’d get from this decision. Hidan and Kakuzu wouldn’t be too pleased. And who knew how happy you would be with it?

There was the sound of rustling parchment and the faint drip of ink followed by the soft noise of a brush running its course over paper. While waiting for the ink to dry, Pein lifted his head and looked up at Zetsu from where he sat.  
“Deliver this missive to Kakuzu. On the double Zetsu, it is important.”

Konan leaned her head on Pein’s shoulder and read what he had written. Her eyes widened and she read it again.

“B-but Pein…are you crazy?!”

“They are perfectly suited to this new assignment. It will work well in our favor.” Pein informed her evenly, unperturbed by his childhood friend’s distress. 

“No they are NOT and no it WON’T WORK! Hidan and Kakuzu might be fine but if Saiya dies…that’s it! She can’t just pop back up like those two can!” Konan shouted in his ear, making him flinch away and glare at her. The intensity of his Rinnegan made Konan her turn her face away, avoiding his eyes. “This’ll be the death of her; she’s only human Pein, and no one will be able to bring her back.” She protested sourly, exhaustion etched in every syllable.

“Do you remember,” Pein began coolly, glancing quickly at Zetsu as he rolled up the now-dry scroll. “What I said about Saiya’s abilities?”

“No.” Konan sighed, knowing when she was conquered. “No, I don’t.” A thin hand stole to her left temple, which she massaged in slow circles. Konan was more animated when both exhausted and placed under duress. Indeed, it was as though she wasn't herself anymore. “Alright then.” Pein answered with an air of feather-light finality and simplicity. “Trust me.” He curled a paper seal around the scroll, tied it with a piece of black cord and held it out to Zetsu, whom came foreword and accepted it. He did not bother stowing it in a pocket or pouch because it would take him moments to reach his destination.

“Be wary Zetsu. There is the chance that you may be caught in the trap as well.” Pein said, his Rinnegan focused on the scroll in the other’s hand, before his ringed gray eyes moved to Zetsu’s bi-shaped golds. “Dismissed.”

Zetsu bowed his head very slightly and literally warped into the shadows, which trembled behind him once he left. Konan stared tiredly as though hypnotized by the clashing and diminishing ripples upon the floor, watching that one spot as though it were the most interesting thing in the world even after they were gone.

Pein turned his head towards her and his lips barely parted when he ordered her to take a nap at the _very_ least. He never issued orders so formally to Konan, and it was an indication that enough was enough.

She did not fight it and left wordlessly.

 

_With You…_

With the angry growling of three stomachs quieted temporarily, the cell moved much quicker. The city skyline was looming closer and the group of three skirted around hills, rocks and trees, keeping as secretive as possible. Now _normally_ all this stealth wasn’t Kakuzu and Hidan’s style, but currently it behooved them to act in this way. This is the Sound Nation after all and even though Orochimaru was dead there were other things to worry about out here. Other freaks whom followed in his footsteps and lackeys who were undoubtedly still loyal to the snake bastard’s memory, and of course there is the possibility of encountering Uchiha Sasuke if he lingered here. With him would be probably be Uzamaki Naruto, whom could be well under Sasuke’s control unless he could muster up his will and throw Sasuke’s command off his body. And if he couldn’t do that then it wouldn't be long before Sasuke’s technique wore off.

Hidan, Kakuzu and yourself halted and clustered in the shadow of a hill and stared around the broad base of it towards your destination. You were lagging towards the back so you could keep an eye on them and hang back if anything happened. Medics aren’t front line fighters as any shinobi can tell you. Even so, you were getting stronger and unlike most medics you _could_ fight, and you have in the past. This was one of several things that made you such a good addition to any team. You were becoming well versed in the art of battle.

“This is _gay_. Gay _gay_ **GAY**!” You complained, hissing these words under your breath while you held a thorny tendril of vegetation away from your face. You had suffered a few shallow scratches from some of the plants around here, many of which grew up at around knee-height, but others were higher. And since Apparently something that had scratched everyone was poisonous because Hidan and Kakuzu were looking a tad green around the gills while you felt nothing. But you were perfectly fine since you saw to it years ago (and still to this day) that you had an unusually high tolerance towards things that would normally cause a fatal (or otherwise unpleasant) reaction in the human body. The two guys would be fine if only because they were immortal, but they’d still be a tad sick.

“Shut the hell up.” Kakuzu admonished quietly, shooting a deadly glare your way. Hidan had paused to clutch his chest, which was aching around where his heart was. You noticed his veins through his now ashen skin. Apparently he was poisoned heavier than you thought.

“Hidan, what the _fuck_ did you do?”

Kakuzu wheeled around and crouched behind the rise of the hill, his aquamarine eyes focusing on his partner. It didn’t surprise him too much that Hidan was in such a state; his cloak was always partially open and he had a series of cuts and scratches across his flesh, not just across his chest; his hands were slashed to shit by all the thorns he batted away hastily. His face had a few nicks on it as well and he was clearly growing more and more irritable and distressed with each passing moment. 

“Okay I don’t think we can take the ‘quiet’ approach any longer Kakuzu.” You whispered, going over to Hidan whom had moved out of the thicket of thorns which had proven to be excellent cover. Every so often some shinobi would pass through here and had yet to detect you three _because_ of the thicket. It would appear that they had tripled the watch since Orochimaru died.

Kakuzu came over as well while you inspected Hidan’s injuries, eyes narrowing a little while you studied them. 

“Get yer filthy fuckin’ hands offa me bitches…all ten a’ ya…” Hidan slurred, flumping over as though his skeleton turned to mush. He landed in a dense patch of ground-creeping vines that were lined with inch-long thorns. Hidan laid there motionlessly. 

You raised an eyebrow and looked at Kakuzu. “We’re taking a break.”

“No, we aren’t.” Kakuzu responded flatly, only to almost flinch at your feral violet glare. _”Medic’s orders.”_

“…” He knew it was pointless to argue. It would draw attention. 

“Hidan?” You tried, waving a hand and snapping your fingers in front of his face. He groaned and fought down the meager contents of his stomach. “Hello? Anybody home?” No response. “Guess not.”

“That’s how he gets after his second bottle of Black.” Kakuzu offered uselessly. ‘Black’ was the abbreviated name given one of the liquors that your clan refined, bottled, labeled and sold.  
You stared at Kakuzu wide eyed. “ _That_ is where those two bottles went? That night? _He_ drank them?”

“Yes, in one sitting. I was taking bets that he couldn't.”

“And his liver didn’t rot and fall out? He knocked back like seven bottles of that other shit we had in the cabinet.” Kakuzu lifted a shoulder, turning his head to keep an eye on the patrol. You began healing Hidan while Kakuzu kept watch. Slowly but surely his veins were fading from sight from beneath his skin. Unfortunately since he was acting like he was born without a spine, you had to lean him up against your shoulder in order to do what you needed to so as to siphon the plant poison from his veins, using an altered form of the Mystic Hand jutsu in conjunction with two vials in hand. One vial started out empty and the other was filled to the stopper with a thin gray liquid. As you continued drawing the poison from Hidan, the empty vial was filling with gray-green vapor. The other vial with thin gray fluid within it was becoming steadily clearer and clearer while the no-longer empty vial became heavier with a new substance. When the patrol passed by, Kakuzu turned and watched this peculiar procedure, fascinated. He had never seen anyone do something like this before. But it wasn’t unheard of for a medic to remove a foreign substance from the body using a medium of some type coupled with chakra. It was your _method_ that was strange. Kakuzu had seen medics in the Hidden Waterfall do it before; commonly the medic’s bare palm would be touching a bubble of solution held together by chakra.

Behind Kakuzu the shadows rippled and Zetsu sunk upwards from the center of them. Upon taking shape he surveyed the situation, his eyes lastly falling upon you with a very shitfaced looking Hidan propped up against your shoulder, the two vials in hand and pressed to his chest, your hand glowing. 

“Oh, this is news.” Zetsu’s light side murmured thoughtfully.  
“I didn’t know you were a masochist, Saiya.” His dark side grated out, speaking in his usual raspy voice.

“I…what? No!” You protested, confused. Both sides smirked and you scowled in contrast, redoubling your efforts to hurry up and finish drawing the poison from Hidan. It was hard to do so since it had plenty of time to run through his veins, but you were managed it surely enough. “Sounds like _somebody_ rolled off the wrong side of the veggie patch.” You muttered, shaking your head.

Zetsu handed Kakuzu the sealed scroll from Pein. “New orders.” His dark side rasped. “And no side trips this time, no matter how important money is.” The lighter one added quietly. 

Kakuzu said nothing to this and unsealed the scroll to have a look at its contents. His eyes rolled across each line of text and his expression flattened more and more into an even more serious one (if possible) while you grimly wished you could let Hidan lay down in the spines covering the ground, but then your work would become self-perpetuating and you’d spend more like an hour healing him, not ten minutes or so. Zetsu watched you for a minute.

“You have improved since we first met.” His lighter side had said, the one you now thought of as Wight. The other half you thought of as Darke…not that you’d be telling him **(them)** that you’d invented some names to call him **(them)** by.

“I had a good example to follow.” You responded, sparing a keen purple glance up toward the plant-man. Your hands would continue to run their course of healing. 

“Did you?" Wight asked. 

“Before this continues on much further I must intervene.” Kakuzu cut across you before you uttered another word, and you shot him a somewhat disgruntled glance before devoting the better part of your attention to the task at hand. Except there was no need for it; Hidan had all the poison drained from him and was now stirring where he rested against your shoulder. Withdrawing the two filled vials, you slipped them into a pouch and unsheathed your wakizashi so you could use it to beat away the closer of the thorny vines that sat in a tangle right next to you. Darke appeared unhappy with this decision of yours but said nothing since Kakuzu was preparing to speak on behalf of what he just read in the missive. 

“The Leader has written that we are walking into a trap.” Kakuzu began, then paused, seeing Hidan stirring and opening his heavy eyelids. 

“Hidan?” You asked. “Does your head feel like it’s made of out wood?”

Odd question.

Hidan grunted and raised a hand up, the pads of his fingers touching his forehead gingerly, feeling around, as though nonverbally wondering if he still had a head. “Ch, yea.” He slurred, his tongue as numb as his skull felt.

“Oh good it worked!” You exclaimed brightly, then covered your mouth with both hands. Ooops, too loud. 

“You don’t need to do something like that to prove that Hidan is a numbskull.” Darke lipped quietly and without consequence since Hidan was currently preoccupied with his inability to feel his brain, which he had now arrived at the conclusion that the damned thing was dislocated. 

“As I was _saying_ ,” Kakuzu interrupted again. “We are walking into a trap.”

“Yeah we heard you. So we’re going back right? Good, because I need to make a side-trip of my own now.” You waved Kakuzu’s supremely irritated expression away while holding Hidan’s right eye open with two fingers and peering in, shining a penlight into the pupil. Hidan tried to blink, looking slightly gormless and was either unable or not inclined to respond. 

“I said nothing of the kind.” Kakuzu scorned acidly. “Now shut the fuck up and let me finish.”

You eyed the ex-Waterfall shinobi reproachfully, Hidan and Zetsu now also focusing their attention upon him, however lazily. 

“We will continue onwards, even thought the jinchuuriki has been switched. But people surely have been left behind who will know of its new whereabouts. In addition to that we are to finally dismantle the Sound Nation and then return to headquarters as soon as possible, but without drawing attention to ourselves. There are to be absolutely no witnesses.” Kakuzu explained and then concluded a little hotly. He was heated over the numerous disrespectful interruptions. 

Your amethyst orbs widened absently while your mind worked over this new information. There _is_ no jinchuuriki here now? And now you were to…well…decimate an entire _nation_? 

“That’s one tall fucking order.” Hidan mumbled, sitting up on his own without realizing he had been leaning on you for almost forty-five minutes now. 

“Yeah and better yet; how will we find the person who would know of where they moved the jinchuuriki? We’re gonna take down an entire country, just the three of us, unless Zetsu plans on joining the party…and you two aren't even well right now. Kakuzu, your turn by the way.” You got up and went over to him after seeing that Hidan was okay to leave alone. Kakuzu gave an irate grunt but sat still and let you do what you must to draw the poison from him. It wasn't as bad as it had been with careless Hidan. Kakuzu had picked his way around most of the thorny bushes (but did not remain untouched), while you had lagged the farthest behind and negotiated every footstep through the low-lying thicket, immune though you were to the particular poison that these plants yielded in their thorns. As always, it is best to err on the side of caution.

“’Take down?’” Wight echoed in a delicately amused tremor.  
“More like ‘make an example of.’” Darke rasped.

“But why do we need to do this anyway? Did someone do something to piss Leader off?” You inquired, raising an eyebrow. 

“One could say that…” Kakuzu answered slowly, eyes roving over the unrolled document continuously. It appeared as though he was having a hard time swallowing the information that was being fed to him. “And at the same time, it is… _difficult_ …to say for sure.”

You tried to lean over his shoulder and peer down at the written-upon paper surface, but you couldn’t get a good view of it since Kakuzu was taller than you anyway and you had to remain sitting beside him while you finished your business of drawing out the plant venom. Some color was returning to his tan skin and Hidan was also fully returning to his senses. Luckily for Kakuzu; Hidan had absorbed all that information while he sat there like a bump on a log. 

“Thank you Lord Jashin, you have given me a way to vent!” He praised under his breath, and then raised his voice. “So why the hell are we sitting here? Let’s go!”

“Zetsu? Are you going to stick around or no?” You half-asked, half-offered. But Zetsu shook his **(their)** head. “Other things to do.” Darke grunted shortly and simply, then he **(they)** sunk into the ground, a patch of clashing, rippling chakra and shadow left behind. 

“So gentlemen I guess we have to figure out an actual battle plan at this…suddenly…critical juncture?” You pointed out uselessly. But they agreed, perhaps not all that surprisingly. “Any ideas?”

Kakuzu and Hidan exchanged a crafty glance which, sad to say, did _not_ bode so well with you.

Hidan and Kakuzu wordlessly agreeing? Fuck, that’s a bad omen if ever there was one.

You sighed and cast your gaze away towards the skyline of buildings, not daring to ask.  
_’That’s it. I’m screwed.’_


	17. Give Up the Ghost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plans are made to attack the Sound Nation, but unforeseen circumstances arise as they often do. Pein reveals another piece of the puzzle regarding your past, and it proves to be the very thing that saves you in a dire situation that means certain doom.

Give Up the Ghost

 

_Konoha; Hokage’s Office…_

 

“Enter.” 

The door opened and in trotted Shizune bearing a tray, her frilly little pig Tonton ambling after her heels. Tsunade watched them from over the tops of her laced fingers. Tonton was an energetic contrast to her mistress, whom was tired and wan. Her hair was a bit messy rather than being orderly as usual, and her normal pleasant demeanor was gone. Tsunade took Shizune’s shoddy appearance as no cause for worry. Shizune had been working around the clock right alongside Tsunade, whom appeared as though she was neglecting her own health due to the enormous workload imposed upon them both by budding circumstances.

“My apologies Lady Tsunade. I still haven’t managed to obtain even one piece of information.” She set down a steaming tray of tea which had two cups on it this time, and attended to Tsunade's teacup first before pouring some for herself. Tsunade gratefully accepted the tea but didn't speak one word of thanks. Instead she went right down to business, ignoring that Shizune appeared to be straining to observe the niceties in her current state. It nearly sounded fake to the Hokage's keen ears, but then, she could hardly fault the woman. With how things have been going, _everyone_ in this building was under pressure. 

“Yes, it is exceptionally hard to find anything out about Akatsuki.” Tsunade assented, a touch sharply. “Have a seat before you fall over.”

Shizune thanked her and sat down, taking another swig of her tea. It was an energizing blend for today, but it wouldn't help much…the only thing that kept her awake and alert right now was the liquid heat singed her tongue and the roof of her mouth. After the throb of her minor burns were gone, the herbs wouldn't themselves be able to keep her leaden limbs moving...'energizing' blend or not.

“Team Kakashi is awaiting their orders at the checkpoint like you ordered. I just received word about a half hour ago.” Shizune said after a moment of sipping her drink, more cautiously now. “But what can we have them do if we know nothing ourselves?”

“No matter what, they're our best bet as it stands. And we must recover Naruto, there is no question about that.” Tsunade answered without hesitation.

“Yes but what about...” Shizune trailed off then looked uncertainly at her teacup. 

“About what?” Tsunade asked suspiciously. 

“Well,” Shizune began nervously. “There have been reports on and off for over a week now that four different shinobi have completely vanished. There were traces of a struggle in some locations.”

“Do any of these people have common traits?” Tsunade asked immediately, straitening up in her chair. A sinking feeling overtook her, located at the pit of her stomach. 

“Yes…I believe…” Shizune said thoughtfully, her dark eyes quite troubled. “…they were four of the ninja that have the highest bounties on them in the black market. They were very formidable shinobi. People whom could only lose to somebody of equal or greater standing." She took another sip of searing hot tea once the burn ebbed to a throb. "Such as those we know of in Akatsuki."

Tsunade’s face went blank. Four strong shinobi, each with a high bounty on their heads? That could only mean…wait, no, it couldn’t. That was impossible. He was _dead_ , Shikamaru saw to that. “No. That’s not plausible.” Tsunade shoved the thought aside. “He was killed by Shikamaru. We only have a handful of the Akatsuki left to concern ourselves with. It must be unrelated." She scrutinized the other woman's tired eyes, hoping that it was a joke in poor taste. "There are other hunters, it must be one of them." _'Especially,'_ She thought. _'Since whoever's making it so obvious is most likely trying to send a message. Unless they're inexperienced...'_

“But Lady Tsunade, please don't forget. According to the newest reports; Akatsuki has a new member; a medic of sorts. The latest incident at our border determined the identity as Gyaku Saiya.”

Tsunade nodded, sighed, and gave up trying to find flaw. “That is what we suspect, at least. There is no evidence to the contrary.”

Shizune smiled weakly. “But what did you mean, ‘he was killed’? What isn’t _plausible_?” 

Tsunade frowned and propped her elbows up on her desk, habitually lacing her fingers together. “I meant Kakuzu, formerly of the Hidden Waterfall. He was a rogue-hunter of sorts. According to past reports, he would often go after those with bounties on their heads whenever he was on the move with his partner, Hidan. Both were in Akatsuki but were also killed after they took down Sarutobi Asuma.” It was once difficult to say it that way, to mention Asuma's name in the same sentence as those madmen. After he was buried, and the period of mourning expired, it got easier to talk about. Although Tsunade, along with many others who knew them, realized that his students weren't absolved of their guilt over his death. Not even after his murderers were 'dealt with'. They required further closure which, by all means, would _never_ be available to them in this lifetime. 

Shizune was profoundly disquieted by this statement, which drew Tsunade’s alarmed curiosity. “What is it Shizune?”

“But…you mean…you never read the reports? I-I was certain I put them on your desk myself!” Shizune was so shaken that she was babbling, which was cause for even _greater_ worry on the Hokage’s part. 

“Shizune!” She shouted, causing Shizune to stifle herself. “Relax and explain!”

Shizune took several deep breaths and steadied her frayed nerves before continuing.  
“I don’t know how long ago anymore, but awhile back Jiraiya, Gai, Naruto, Lee, Neji and Tenten were all in the woods training. They ended up finding Uchiha Itachi and Hishigake Kisame guarding a strange barrier dome, and then other members of the Akatsuki came out...and I mean, the ones who should have been _long dead_ were there with the exception of Sasori. Deidara emerged from the dome, with Saiya, whom was unconscious. Given the circumstances, we had to retreat and....after they fought with Akatsuki for a bit…errrr…I can’t remember everything! It was so long ago, are you _sure_ you didn’t read the report Lady Tsunade?!” 

Tsunade’s light brown eyes were wide while she took in this horrific information. 

“How can it be possible that they’re all alive when the only one capable of restoring true life to the dead is gone _herself_?” Tsunade whispered, arms relaxing so her forearms would drop against the surface of her desk. Her teacup chattered in place at the small tremor. “And why the hell didn’t I get that report?”

“I wish I knew…but the loss of Chiyo from the Sand was terrible.” Shizune agreed, misreading Tsunade’s words and shaking her head. Tonton oinked sadly. Orochimaru was known to be able to perform a much more profane ritual, but if he raised the dead with _that_ jutsu, the subjects weren't the same as they had been in life. They arose in summoned coffins and to the naked eye, they most surely spent decades in death's withering grip; though were miraculously intact. On the other hand, with Granny Chiyo's version, Gaara was brought back without any alterations made to his body, mind and soul.

As if a realization mule-kicked her in the ass, the Hokage acted.

“Shizune!” Tsunade was up from her seat and slamming her palms against the desk. The furniture shook with the force. “We have been looking for the wrong thing all this time! There is only _one_ new member of Akatsuki that we are sure of. Gather all the information about Gyaku Saiya that you can, I want explicit details of her life. I want to know her so we can _kill_ her. We CANNOT allow this to continue!"

Shizune was frightened and she stood up, cringing a little at the Hokage’s fiery disposition. “I-is there something you’ve figured out that I haven’t, Lady Tsunade?"

“I’m not sure if my theory is correct but I think that the Akatsuki’s new medic is capable of resurrection. If that is the case then we can injure and kill the other Akatsuki as much as we want but it won’t matter a damned bit as long as she’s alive!”

Shizune’s mouth fell ajar, but she closed it. What if Tsunade hit the nail on the head? Having such a medic whom can bring life to the deceased…that would make Akatsuki practically **invincible**. Surely if this Saiya woman can restore life, then she must be a medic of the highest caliber. 

That was when Shizune remembered something else.

“Isn’t Gyaku Saiya the same kunoichi who murdered Orochimaru?” Her query was leaden with utmost dread. She had hoped you’d be nothing but a plain-as-rice medic, not a kunoichi who can fight too. That's neglecting to mention how Orochimaru is a Sannin, and therefore, is not easy to take down.

“’Murdered’?” Tsunade scoffed, laughing bitterly. “Yes, that’s one way to put it. It was more like a brutal _slaughter_ from what I was told.”

Shizune looked, if at all possible, a great deal paler. “Oh Kami…Lady Tsunade, if she could kill Orochimaru, then how will we be able to reach her? Surely Akatsuki is going to keep her guarded because she can practically ensure their survival, and then to top it all off she is strong on her own. What do you do in a situation like that?”

“….” Tsunade sat back down, her eyes focused on Shizune, at a loss. Which is something that never bodes well.

“Lady Tsunade?”

“Send word to Kakashi and Yamato. They are to continue with their mission.” Then after another minute, “You may leave now.”

There was a moment where Shizune dithered over whether or not she should linger and ask more questions, but Tsunade was adamant and didn't appear likely to offer any answers to posed inquiries. 

Shizune rose and left, Tonton trotting along after her. 

 

_With You..._

 

“Nope! Not happening! Wrong number; please hang up and try again!” 

“Awww come on Saiya, stop acting like a friggin’ baby.” 

“You must admit that it _is_ a sound plan.”

“I don’t have to admit anything!” You cried, alarmed. “Let’s think of a new angle, okay? There’s _tons_ of alternatives!”

Kakuzu and Hidan glanced at one another before returning their attention back to you. “Very well.” Kakuzu agreed. You sighed in relief and Hidan twitched. “What?! Oh come on! This is gonna take forever…” He groaned.

“No,” You were offended. “And stop being such a prick for once in your life! We can do this _easily_ , but I don't know about the ‘no witnesses’ part.”

“Ah, did I say ‘no witnesses’?” Kakuzu intervened mildly. “I meant that there must be no witnesses of the investigation about the location of the jinchuuriki. In terms of the eradication of this country, of _course_ there are to be witnesses. Leader even insists upon it in this letter.” He held up the scroll before pocketing it. “This is to be done as a demonstration of power. It is not clear why we have received this order now of all times but we must move beyond that question and deal with the issue at hand.”

This explanation left you and Hidan blinking owlishly. You scratched a temple with one finger and chuckled. “Heh, thanks for clearing that one up, Itachi.”

Kakuzu narrowed his weird eyes at you but said nothing.

You skimmed right over that glare, attempting to sell another idea. “I have a thought on where to start.” You said, glancing over the high-rise of the hill. The border patrol was far away, just specks in the distance. “I suggest we sneak in there and pick three civilians, kill and dispose of them, then assume their forms long enough to get a decent meal and supplies. After that happens I’ll poison their water source for good measure. It'll be the first nail in the coffin...and will cripple this whole area for a quite awhile. _Certainly_ long enough for us to have done with this."

“Don’t they filter their water?” Kakuzu inquired sharply. “It would be a wasted effort.”

“Just because they filter the water does _not_ necessarily mean that they’ll be able to cleanse it of the poison. They will only focus on the more obvious things, such as microorganisms and filth.” You pointed out. “Listen. Remember that Orochimaru was a very paranoid individual. He moved around way too much to bother worrying about elaborate systems to prevent things like this from happening, and I'm fairly sure most of his funds went to experimentation, rather than elaborate water filtration systems. Besides that, most were scared shitless by the prospect of what could happen if they got caught doing something that could prove fatal, such as tampering with the watershed. Orochimaru was known to count on that fear, and it served him very well. As such, certain precautions never had to be taken _especially_ because of his nomadic tendencies. And now that Orochimaru is out of the picture, these people are likely dealing with other problems, seeing as how they’re leaderless." You turned and motioned over the hill. "Take for instance the border patrol. It’s a bit tighter than expected isn’t it?”

“Yes it is.” Kakuzu admitted. “Which could also mean that since they have tightened exterior security measures, they will be lax with others on account of their guard being stretched too thin.”

“Good news for us.” Hidan added with a feral grin.

You nodded. “It’ll take some time for the toxin to circulate through all the piping in the city but we can take that opportunity to force them to their knees. Eventually, the survivors will need water above all else.” You unbuckled your med-pack and tugged it away from your waist, set it down on the ground, and began pawing through the contents. “Let’s see, I should have enough materials to fabricate something that fits the job.”

“Wait dumbass, that can't be enough. It's a whole damn city!” Apparently Hidan has a speck of gray matter after all.

You paused and solemnly peered towards the two men. “Do you guys get tired of being wrong?” Upon asking this you went back to what you where doing. “This toxin will not only get into the water, but the bacteria _in it_ prior to filtration. Since bacteria reproduce so rapidly, this stuff will multiply along with it. Even when microorganisms are captured by the filters in the reservoir, it won’t matter because they aren’t perfect and will miss a number of the bacteria. Beyond that, the poison itself will still go through the filtration mechanism since the molecules aren't the same as what the standard sieve would be designed for. What gets through the reservoir will infect other organisms in the water once it gets through." You held a flask up at eye level, gently swirling its contents. "If I'm correct...and, I usually am, this mixture is like mercury. If it gets in your system; it’ll unpack its bags and stick around for awhile.” You set the flask down beside its twin atop a flat rock, and then poked through the med pack for another component.

“Sounds like some nasty shit.” Was Hidan’s oh-so intelligent comment. “And you’re sure that will all happen, what you just said?”

“It should. Besides, how many people would think to do this?” You answered tersely, cautiously adding a fine silver powder to the fluid. It dissolved with a nearly inaudible hiss. “I’ve done something like this before, but I did it with ingredients in food, not water. If I had an opportunity to work on it more then I could have perfected the method. That being said, this mixture ought to do its job, but it won't be up to the same caliber as the toxins I can make in a laboratory setting." You stirred around the contents of the second flask, then carefully poured a tenth of its contents into the first vessel. "So how else are we going to attack?”

“We are going to kill as many people as possible and then leave for a short while.” Kakuzu responded. “When they think they are safe, we come back and strike again.”

“And that’s it?” You asked. "Nothing above the obvious?"

“No. This is a nation, so…” He pulled out a newer map and gave it a once-over. “…there are other targets as well. This country is not thickly settled and has only this city and two satellite towns nearer to the borders. They’re relatively small.”

“This city itself is kind of small by comparison to others." You commented. "At least, on paper it is." 

“And it is.” Kakuzu agreed. 

“Why the hell don’t we just take out one place at a time? No mercy is the way to go I say!” Hidan protested. You frowned while pouring a couple fluids into a fat vial. Acrid steam rose from the interior, clouding the glass beyond the liquid line. “Uhm, you know Kakuzu, he's got a point. Maybe we should just do it one, two, three and tear them out systematically like that?”

“Or we could divide and conquer.” Kakuzu offered coolly. “I believe that is the wisest choice. If one town is attacked then the others would send aid. If they are all equally preoccupied then they will be able to rely only on themselves and will also have nowhere to run when the situation escalates beyond their control.”

“The ‘out of control’ part starts when this takes effect.” You remarked, standing. It was now complete. “Let me go plant this.” You held up the finished vessel of toxin. “And I’ll grab something for us to eat in town too so we don’t have to do this on empty stomachs. The soldier pills are only going to hold out for so long. Personally, I don't like to kill on an empty stomach.”

“Very well.”

You nodded once and flitted away towards the wall, moving fast enough to blaze right by the guards without detection when their backs were turned.  
Yes indeed, you had gained better control over the ‘Speed’ sigil since you first used it. 

 

_Amegakure; In One of Pein’s Rooms…_

The leader of Akatsuki stood in the doorway of a room that held six hulking shapes in the dark, which was split only by the light pouring timidly into the room from the doorway. He didn’t need the light to see by. He already knew what was in here by heart. And he could see well enough as it was.

Those huge shapes were devices that contained his other bodies while they slept in containment. Only two of these were empty. The contents of one currently stood within this doorway. But the other one was elsewhere.

He didn’t even know why he came to this room aside from maybe a nervous need to check and make sure that this other body was in position and not still secured in this room. His bedroom was a much more desirable place to be right now since he could use some time to relax and be in peace; he’d been higher strung than usual. Yet Pein wasn’t able to stay in one place long enough. No, he was too anxious. A project he had worked on long ago was ready to come to fruition. The question is…would it work, after all these years in dormancy?

Yes. It would. It _had_ to. If it didn’t then Konan would have been right to scream at him for bad judgment in sending Kakuzu’s cell ahead with a new mission. Those three were too valuable to lose right now. Damn it, this _had_ to work. He couldn’t let his plan falter mid-stride now!

Shaking his head, Pein turned away and swung the door shut behind him.

 

_With You…_

 

Neither Hidan or Kakuzu knew how long you had been gone on your errand, but you were back with food and better yet, the guards hadn’t taken notice that they weren't alone out here. The group packed down quite a bit of food without paying attention to anyone’s manners since you were all equally ravenous. It was your turn to study Kakuzu’s map at length, and thankfully your photographic memory allowed you to eyeball it for about three minutes before you knew the geography of this place like the back of your own hand.

“Okay I’m ready, don't know about you two.” You said while warily eyeing the guards. As you watched, a young woman brought the men canteens of water, handing one to each guard by the hook that's used to attach the canteens to your belt. Since it was a blazing hot cloudless day, they couldn’t be more grateful to her. She smiled, bowed, and left cheerily. 

They each popped their canteens open and then proceeded to guzzle down the contents greedily, moving into the modest shade cast across the ground by the perimeter wall for a break. This wall was a bit shorter than others. In the Leaf village when you went with Itachi and Kisame to capture Naruto, their wall had been _so tall_ that if you jumped from the trees, you wouldn’t survive the fall or would otherwise wind up wretchedly injured. How Itachi managed to get in was beyond you. He probably knew of a crack in the wall somewhere since Konoha was once his home.

“So uh, now what?” Hidan inquired.

“We get into position.” You answered while motioning towards the guards. “It’s taking effect.” 

The men began staggering, and one who had up-ended his canteen over his waiting mouth earlier had gotten the biggest dosage of the three. He took a lunging step away from the wall but was unable to maintain his balance. He dropped the canteen and grasped the front of his throat with both hands, his wrists crossing, body collapsing heavily to the rough ground where he began to writhe and choke, his eyes bulging out of their sockets and rolling upwards so that only the whites were exposed. 

Other guards clustered around him and tried to restrain him but were unable. He was too strong and was now convulsing uncontrollably. Pinkish foam issued from his gaping mouth. 

But while trying to loosen the man’s collar and keep him away from anything sharp, the others began to feel the effects as well.

“M…m-m-my throat its…its…b...bur...b-b-burning..” One tried to tell the others, but they weren’t listening since they, too, were beginning to suffer. The one that drank the smallest amount of his water looked at the canteen in hand and then threw it with all his might. It hit the ground on its side and rolled away, landing in a patch of grass not far away from the Akatsuki cell that no one had any idea was there. Kakuzu and Hidan’s attention was attracted to the canteen. With a very, very, _very_ faint hissing noise that only a trained ear could detect, water had gushed over the grass and after a moment, each individual blade began to wither brown and lay flat against the ground. 

“Ahhh Saiya, that’s fucking _gross_.” Hidan grated out, his face twisting into an expression of disgust when he peered over the hill again to see the reactions of the guards.

“What d’ya expect? They’re not going to die a happy _euphoric_ death dancing with unicorns, dumbass.” You said, then got up and pulled out a senbon in one hand, your wakizashi in the other. Since you were now the most familiar with this sector, it was your target. Hidan was ready to protest but Kakuzu had a few words with him and the they went off to their respective destinations. 

The one sane ninja looked up once a dark figure entered his peripheral vision and he struck up a defensive position, his forest green eyes wide with fright. He was young and strong, but he wasn’t unaffected by the contaminated water. His lips and the skin around them was irritated and reddening with the appearance of a fine webbing of teeny-tiny veins. Cold sweat blossomed from his every pore and his tensed muscles were shaking. He just passed the chuunin exam last week and the only task his cell had was guard duty. And now, an intruder? The life expectancy of a Sound shinobi isn’t supposed to be _this_ short, is it?

His eyelids and limbs were heavy as cinderblocks and his innards quivered under weakness and stress. “What is this…what do you want…?” He managed to ask, one hand trying to maneuver a kunai out of its pouch, but his palms were so lubricated with sweat that he couldn’t get a grip. The liquid dripped off his fingertips, and that network of veins was spreading under his skin, making him glow pink from a distance. 

“I want you to drop dead already,” You started to say, smirking behind the high collar of your cloak. “Oh and the harder you struggle,” You continued on, stepping over motionless glassy-eyed corpses, their faces streaked with foam. “…the greater the damage will be.” His bleary eyes twitched downwards in their sockets upon the sensation of a sharp edge sliding across the back of one of his knees, severing the sinew and allowing gravity to have its way with him. He hadn’t realized that you were so close. Was it genjutsu or more devilry of that poisoned water? His eyes weren’t working properly from where he stared up at you on the ground. His brain and various metabolisms were beginning to shut down. 

“Succumb. It’s useless.” You told him coldly, then walked forward and pushed the gate open. It had not been locked since that girl came out with water for the guards. And, you noticed, she hadn’t gone very far herself. She laid there, face partially submerged in a small puddle of her own blood that still dripped over her swollen tongue, skirts hiked up to mid-thigh in a pool of tawny fabric trapped beneath her. The reactions to your concoction appeared to differ from one victim to the next. Evidently, it carried much more strength than you thought it would. It was possible that the mixture changed in nature when you poured it into the reservoir due to the natural state of the water before it was filtered into a drinkable form. 

The village was overflowing with anguish. They hadn’t figured out why others were suddenly taking ill and perishing in alarming numbers. Reflecting momentarily upon their stupidity, you realized that the only way that the young chuunin figured it out was because his comrades became violently sick after they drank that water.

Farmers watering crops in the heat of the day came to turn the nozzles of their various irrigation devices off, only to find that their plants were dying from the stem up. Then since they had to hydrate themselves during their back-breaking work, the farmers _themselves_ died amongst their crops, while their families were already goners elsewhere. You wouldn’t need to exert much of an effort in this village you decided, while you seized a young boy whom was crying a little too shrilly over his big sister’s contorted corpse and buried a senbon dead-center through his left eye, pushing the point in so far that it would go into his brain once it punctured through the forest of cones and rods at the back of his eyeball, which was now a mess of gelatinous crud running down his face to his neck. 

You were _still_ thinking this would be easy while you tangled an unyieldingly strong hand into a middle-aged woman’s hair and, consuming your wakizashi in sinisterly white chakra so it could cut like a knife through butter, hacked out a few incisions diagonally across her middle so as to cut each rib free from the spine, then the final blow; you raised the wakizashi above her head and brought it hurtling down through the air to the space just below the base of her heart, catching it in the bottom-most chamber and hooking the blade downwards, succeeding in crudely eviscerating her. She screeched ear-splittingly and was no longer capable of trying to wrench herself beyond your deathgrip. Her body hemorrhaged crimson, and once your blade left her severed bits of rib, cartilage, intestines and her stomach amongst other things slopped out of the ragged hole…all of it _so red_ that the color was practically aglow. 

More screams filled your ears and further chipped away at the maimed, bloodied stump that was what remained of your conscience from when you were young, when it had been nipped in the bud by a mysterious figure in your past before it grew too high and became rooted too deep. The scenes of massacre were becoming blurred at the edges so that this felt like nothing but a string of careless slayings, one after another, until the body count became too high to bother contending with numerically. What did it matter? This wasn’t any more difficult than it had been when you left the Grass Nation, when you left your own family dead at home for making one-too-many bad decisions on your behalf and also when you left the ninja council of the Grass with only one choice: to purge the land of every last infected person, even if they had done nothing to merit death. The only way this was different was that it was somewhere else with people you didn’t know and didn’t do wrong by you. Was that so bad? 

_’No.’_ You told yourself while putting seals on the few entrances and exits of the village. _’It’s easier. That’s all. A hell of a lot easier.’_

Yeah. This would be easy. Like taking candy from a baby.  
For now, anyway. Just for now.

 

_On the Streets…_

Sakura pussyfooted around every single corpse and their disgusting leavings, which varied from saliva, blood, and any additional humors known to originate from the human body. This place was by no means deserted. There survivors were attempting their escape; but it was to no avail. People could only come _in_ due to a seal which Yamato and Kakashi hadn't discovered a means to dispel. 

“I hope that whatever happened to these people didn’t get Naruto.” Yamato thought aloud, making Sakura shudder for a moment before a reasonably furious rebuke. "Naruto will be okay! I know it! He _has_ to be!”

Kakashi turned a worried eye her way before casting his attention ahead. He hoped the same thing. He wanted Naruto to be fine, if not a bit ruffled and mad at them for taking so long to find him. It had been tough to get this far. There were sightings of the rambunctious blond crossing the border, and it was the only worthwhile lead in a series of false starts which led them astray. They hoped he had somehow escaped Akatsuki and evaded undergoing the soul-wrenching Ten Dragons Sealing ritual. Yeah, they’d probably have to suffer several accounts of the tale over endless bowls of Ichiraku’s miso pork ramen. But in the end, that was quite fine and well worth it if the kid survived. He's too young to have gained the knowledge of death.

“When I find that bitch…” Sakura threatened, cracking her knuckles. Sai straggled behind them, appearing unaffected by the reeling scenes of wanton destruction. Secretly, he remained in wonder of what would cause one to _commit_ such atrocities. Deciphering emotions and what drives an individual in anything they do had become a chief curiosity of his. As they progressed further they began to notice a trail. This was where the most corpses were, where people had died in more dreadful ways than they would if left to the devices of whatever malady overtook this area. Sakura, though she was Tsunade’s pupil and a fine medic in her own right, could not bring herself to stop and examine even the most tame of the corpses for the reason why most people died in these awful ways. The others didn’t bother asking her to do so, and the quicker they could have done with this, the better.

“Sakura, we don’t know for sure if Gyaku Saiya is here.” Sai reminded her quietly though helpfully. 

“Oh she will be.” Kakashi said, sounding on edge despite his attempts to remain cool and collected. “Our intelligence suggests that she is Akatsuki's only medic. That means she will likely be out on nearly all their missions.”

“But that does not mean that she is the only new member.” Yamato added hastily. “We are not sure exactly how many shinobi compose their group. The killing style in this vicinity isn't the same as what is on record for the other Akatsuki. And it is absolutely possible that Akatsuki isn't here at all."

“We know enough to make an educated guess and _that_ is why we are here.” Kakashi told them, and then held out an arm to bar Sakura’s path. They'd arrived at an intersection where silence rang in their ears and a filmy haze hung in the air, blanketing the vicinity. Bodies lay in heaps of nondescript muscle and bone and one or two other warm cadavers were shredded in half across their midsections; and a deluge of blood crept across cracked, sunken pavement to find itself a storm drain to hide in. Other than that, there wasn't any movement. So, no wonder why it was disturbingly quiet...everyone here was dead.

Kakashi turned around to face his team. “She’s close.” 

That's when they heard it.  
The music, that is.

 

_With You…_

You had known they were here and watched them arrive at the intersection. But you didn’t stick around to eavesdrop and went along on your merry way, now guided by a sound. Familiar music seeped past a chain link fence that bordered a neglected blacktop behind an apartment complex. Warped wooden benches lined the drab brick backside of the building, each bench situated between doors every so many feet. A couple windows were open and the sound floated through one of these. It went on in a litany of ‘yeah yeah yeahs’ that made you want to retch, a violin sang sadly and a tinkling piano producing a sappy, vomit-inducing melody. It was familiar because of how half your female relatives would get together and watch marathons in the family room located directly under your bedroom, and growing up, that song went unchanged throughout all seasons of the show. It was about a completely overrated man and his many nightly flings and all the drama surrounding it. 

In an unwanted attempt to make you more feminine (to women in the family, attending ninja academy was nearly the apex of manliness) and also 'include' you in their annoying ritual, they dragged you in and didn't let go until the show was over. During the marathons especially, it was a whirlwind of gossip, chocolate and nail polish remover. This more or less became a weekly vortex you couldn't escape at a young age; and if you had an exam or some similarly pressing activity the following morning, they didn't care. That music _especially_ became a catalyst for rage, bordering on a psychosis, and specific types of noises would be known to set you off from then on. So you made it a habit to remove those sounds from your life. Strangely, human screams never qualified as a trigger to this peculiar behavior. An exceedingly good thing in your profession because otherwise, you'd spend your days completely berserk.

And that is what was happening now. You began to slip into a fury that would hold your rationality hostage until it was cured. There was a moment when you clutched your head, gathering handfuls of your black tresses and forgetting that enemies were within reach. In a fit of what appeared as unbidden rage, you powered up the Earth and Strength symbols on your hands and ran full-tilt towards that building, a fist ramming so hard against the uneven brick that Yamato wondered if you’d hurt yourself instead.

Opposite of his thoughts, the earth gave a great shudder and a series of deafening crashes rang through their ears like bombshells dropping around their heels. They were all shaken to the ground and started coughing violently after accidentally inhaling concrete dust, Kakashi being the exception. You stood rooted to the spot, feet spread apart and a fist in the air where that wall had once been, the fury ebbing from your veins now that the music was gone. That idiotic song was one more piece of the family you sent to hell, another memory to throw on the pyre.

 _’She certainly has a temper on her. And a_ mean _left hook. We'll have to watch out for that.’_ Yamato thought, creepy black eyes flickering around the area to make sure the others were alright. Once the dust and the coughing subsided you were facing them, now calm enough to concentrate on what was undoubtedly about to become a bad situation. You waited for them to say or do something and as you did, you swept your hair back into a ponytail, hat resting atop a short, broken beam jutting out of a concrete hunk. “Sorry about that.” You began affably, now brushing dust off your pants.. “I hate that tune.”

Sai, Kakashi, Yamato and Sakura looked around at one another, nonplussed equally. They heard the music; but were more worried about _you_ , and whether or not you'd go for the source, seeking more prey. Now it hardly mattered. They came here to save Naruto or find information leading to his rescue. 

“Where is Naruto?!” Sakura shouted. “You took him! Where is he!?” She didn’t wait for orders. She ran half-cocked at you, and you raised an eyebrow. “I guess I can’t expect his friends to act any different…” You drawled, somersaulting backwards from her full-frontal assault. She gritted her teeth and charged energy into a fist. She’d been training for this fight; she was much faster now. But you’d been training too, admittedly not for this reason in particular, but training is training and after a few minutes of swapping blows and insults, it became dreadfully clear to them that you hadn’t been sitting on your hands, either. You had gotten better in all actuality, despite that you declared training with Sasori as a waste.

“Man,” You started, ducking easily under another swinging fist and then maneuvering gracefully around a blazing kick. “If you were – my – student I would’ve drowned you by now, you suck so bad.”  
Sakura threw five explosive kunai at you with all her might but you shielded yourself against them. Indeed, as the others watched, they saw that you were a perplexing puzzle to struggle against. How does one fight a foe that has an answer for everything you throw at them?

“Like before I see that there is no pattern or particular method.” Sai observed in a low tone, intent on keeping the conversation a secret. 

“Yes.” Yamato agreed hesitantly. “And there are no habits to go by before she takes action. Saiya might insult Sakura a lot about her schooling as a kunoichi and a medic but she has been able to hold her own for now _because_ of it."

“I believe that this woman doesn’t know her own strength.” Kakashi whispered. “Which gives us an advantage.”

“I agree.” Sai assented softly, picking at his chin a little whilst his dark eyes tracked every movement graceful and not, each attack, and even the word-for-word banter betwixt the two kunoichi. "Of what I remember she has improved in some regard, however. I distinctly recall that Saiya couldn't keep a straight face when fighting Orochimaru." Whereas this time around you had an emotionless mask up, but Sakura’s rage, on the other hand, was working into a lather. 

“WOULD YOU SHUT THE HELL UP!?!?!?” The pinkette screamed and leapt high into the air and shot back down at you, momentum adding more power behind her fist. The fight had migrated down a broad street at a steady pace twisting around and around in a deadly dance like a tornado, leaving naught but destruction in its wake. 

Until at last something made Sakura skid to a full stop and get the wind knocked out of her by a kick to the solar plexus. Her eyes went bug-wide and a thin rivulet of blood trickled from the corner of her mouth when her lips parted in a sharp intake of breath, her hands resting on her wounded gut while you shifted your balance back easily and landed your foot on the ground in an offensive stance. “Sa…ske…k-kun…” She gasped, eyes swimming with tears of pain and…what was that emotion, anyway? Happiness? Regret?

Sakura staggered backwards a few steps and dropped out of sight, one of her low heels caught in the fold of a crack. Kakashi’s eye widened and he raced foreword to catch her, barely succeeding in doing so. He knelt down, holding Sakura against him. He peeled her hands away from her belly and tried to examine the damage but he couldn’t see anything because of her shirt. It was probably just a nasty bruise, but since Sakura was bleeding out her mouth there was some internal bleeding involved.

You turned your head to see behind you, then pivoted. There he was. That smug bastard Sasuke, standing alone, a hand on one of his hips.

“Are we a little teapot?” You inquired dryly while arranging yourself into the same position, but Sasuke didn’t pay this question any mind. Instead he ignored your words and watched you mimic him rudely. 

“Be serious over there!” Yamato called. “He is a missing-ninja too!” Even if you were the enemy you deserved a fair warning. Sasuke is no one to be trifled with.

“I’m well aware of that.” You told them. “This isn’t the first time we’ve met.”

“You killed Orochimaru.” Sasuke began, sounding more like he was telling you that you did it, as though you wouldn’t know yourself. 

“What of it?”

“He became a nuisance to me.” 

“If that’s the case then what classification does blondie fall under?” You sneered. Sakura lifted her head up, trembling with weakness. Had you poisoned her at some point? She was looking pale, but there were no blades drawn in this fight. She would’ve known if something punctured her skin directly. Mainly her lungs were aching something terrible. She was beginning to _rattle_ as she inhaled and exhaled laboriously. Kakashi glared at you. “You’ve done quite enough. Step back and let us handle this. Sasuke is _our_ responsibility." The rattle emanating from the pinkette's throat grew louder, and Kakashi shifted so she was sitting more upright against his shoulder. You blinked in Sakura’s direction, studying her from afar, then glanced around the area. There was a sewer nearby, and the haze was heavier here than elsewhere. “Ah...I see.” It was a new form of the contaminated water; water vapor that condenses in the lungs or simply floats in the air as a haze, evaporating because of the sun. You were feeling it in your chest a little as well but it was easily ignored. Most of the components you used to build the toxin were things you had built up an immunity for, but that didn't mean that the combination of them wouldn't have an effect. 

“What do you see?” Sai prodded. If the enemy makes a statement like that, its seldom good.

“Are you mad? I needn't explain myself to the likes of _you_." You spun a finger around your ear and turned back to Sasuke. “Were you here this whole time Uchiha, with your little fuckbuddy?”

Sasuke contained the flinch at this straight-to-the-point question. But he was more bothered by the ‘fuckbuddy’ part than anything else. “I suppose I should thank you. If it weren’t for you, Gyaku, I would have become Orochimaru’s body without killing my brother first.”

“Then you should know…” Your body lowered gracefully into an offensive position. “…That if you fight _me_ you will die before you can lay a finger on Itachi.”

“I see.” Sasuke murmured thoughtfully, more to himself than anyone else. Kakashi, Sai, Yamato and Sakura were stunned into an even eerier silence than before. Criminal or not, you appeared to care about your comrades. There is something to be said for that. Apparently not all bad guys are so bad. Actually, that fact makes you even _worse_ because if you are willing to protect and work with others then that means you can’t be singled out so easily. A lone shinobi isn’t as much of a threat as two or three of them. This applies especially to Akatsuki considering that they are nothing but S-rank rogues…missing-ninja who are like one-man armies on their own. As it has been witnessed, Akatsuki’s leader appears to pair shinobi together whose abilities interlock and form a deadly strategy. For example: Hidan and Kakuzu. Both have a rotten temper but are immortal, to a point. If Hidan gets chopped to bits Kakuzu can sew him back together, so on and so forth. 

“I could use a woman of your talent.” Sasuke offered. “Leave Akatsuki. Come with me.”

“I knew that we weren’t the only ones with plans for the future.” You chuckled. 

“Well?” He prodded impatiently. Naruto came over and stood beside him, his blue eyes blank as ever. 

“I think you can take your offer and shove it up your _own_ ass, not blondie’s.” 

Sasuke’s face went more blank than ever and he turned on his heel and walked past his partner. “Naruto. Clean up this mess.”  
And Sasuke was gone, Sakura’s eyes brimming with tears when he left without even acknowledging her. It wasn’t even that she was obsessing over him like a mere fangirl. It was that he is a team-mate who crossed a terrible threshold, a man she cared about for so much of her life now. No matter what the situation, she didn’t want to give up on him because she _loved_ Sasuke. And with Naruto as a mind-slave now, something had to be done. She resolved herself to save them both; a workload greater than any stack of papers on the Hokage’s desk and something Tsunade had been exceptionally quick to warn her of.

Naruto stepped up and watched you without a single emotion registered upon his face. It was as though he was nothing but a hollow puppet. 

“Stop this.” Kakashi ordered uselessly. “Naruto, it’s us!”

You rolled your eyes and whirled around to glare at Kakashi. “Shut your fucking mouth and stay out of this.” You spat, poker face momentarily gone. “I’m not on your side and I’m not doing you idiots any favors. Get in my way, and you'll be burned just as bad!” You then grumbled and turned back to Naruto, muttering. “Good riddance, I say. Good fucking riddance.”

Yamato stared, wondering why he was so bothered by your attitude. He shouldn’t be so upset by it, after all, you’re not on their team. “Have you ever fought Naruto? He can-“

“-Become possessed by the Nine-Tail?” You cut over him, sounding as irate as you looked. Naruto made a shadow clone and it began to form a Rasengan.

“Yes! We can suppress it if you help us this once!” Sakura managed to say, now healing herself with the Mystic Hand technique. “Like you did before!”

You surprised them with a fit of laughter, which grew more and more hysterical as you evaded a Rasengan. It easily burst a crater in the already cracked ground. He made nine shadow clones and they assaulted you, kicking, punching, throwing kunai…only to be deflected every single time. He was performing very badly. It was as though he couldn’t concentrate, or was waging an inner battle. With what though? If Gaara of the Sand could use powers he had as a jinchuuriki after the Shukaku was taken from him, could Naruto do the same thing and call upon the Fox’s power? Once touched by a Bijuu’s power, always scarred by it. A remnant of that energy remains forever after unless it is forced out some way, as seen with Sora from the Fire Temple.

“’Like I did before’?” You echoed, and then laughed harder. But it wasn’t pleasant laughter by any means. No. It was cruel, bitter and victorious. “I _used_ you, foolish girl! You are all so naïve and giving that it blinds you! You’re all too willing to see the good in people and because of that you just can’t get over the fact that _Blondie is gone, Uchiha is your enemy and neither are coming back to you no matter how hard you try!_ ”

“Stop that RIGHT NOW!” Kakashi shouted, getting to his feet from where he had been kneeling beside Sakura. “That’s enough!” Oh how he wished he could step in here. But there was no way he could do it…no matter how fast he is, he knew of your speed and how it kept you alive in a death match with Orochimaru. It was likely you’d end up using Naruto as a meat shield if he attempted to intervene.

“Crossed a line, have I?” You teased, evading around a sloppily aimed Rasengan. 

Up above, standing atop a building well above the deadly haze, was a man with a sweeping mass of long, unbound orange hair and wicked eyes that he closed while listening, the fingers of one hand grazing gently over one of his many piercings out of habit, as though to check and make sure they were still there. He was amused by the situation. Mainly this was so laughable for him because he had worried about you for no reason at all. Unless the situation went into a death-spiral out of control. 

Which was exactly right. More words were had. Kakashi and Yamato got angrier and angrier while Sai remained silent and Sakura shed more tears, for some reason unable to gather her faculties now that it looked like all hope had been smashed. You, an outsider, did what no one else dared to...and told it how it was. Some part of her always knew and she hated it, but at the same time couldn’t be more grateful that someone had the gall to open her eyes. Because no one else _would_. Nobody wanted to think it. Instead of galvanizing her, the truth left Sakura paralyzed and powerless.

All the while, those magnificently powerful Rinnegan eyes watched interestedly from above. Pein remained unnoticed for now, but if the situation escalated, he would start what he came here to do.

Thick wooden bolts shot up out of the ground, crumbling cement and hard-packed dirt and sending chunks of rock flying. The wooden arms came at you fast and you leapt above them, but spikes shot out of the tops of them and aimed at you once more, scratching your left calf muscle to the depth of a quarter-inch. You bit back a hiss of pain when you landed and barely managed to shield yourself when Kakashi tried to catch you off guard with a Raikiri. Okay. Now that they abandoned the one-versus-one rule, it’s time for Pein to worry. 

He watched you barely hold your own against multiple opponents. Naruto was also beginning to gain control of himself (or was it Sasuke gaining higher control of Naruto?) and now you definitely had a situation to worry about. Wind blades flew, arcs of fire crackled in your wake, icy cold waves of water crashed and pointed pillars of stone rocketed upwards from the ground. Lightning flashed, Rasengan orbs boomed, wood groaned, ink splattered and craters and fissures were formed. In no time the urban landscape became an alien one with no force of nature or chakra absent. 

You were becoming frantic, he could sense it, but you were being very good about maintaining an emotionless façade. At least you could keep your dignity as a fighter. Pein smirked. Here was his opportunity.

His hands came together and he focused, enacting a lengthy set of handseals while concentrating on you, his mind latching unyieldingly onto your own. You were startled at this foreign sensation and nearly became decapitated by a swinging branch of wood. 

_’What is this?!’_ You mentally yelled.  
_/Do not worry. I will not steer you wrong./_ A familiar voice told you calmly. _/I made you forget the past; when you came to me because your sensei couldn’t give you the knowledge you hungered for. Do you remember now?/_ He completed the first set of handseals and on that cue, realization struck. A piece of your memory that was long forgotten became unsheathed from its darkness. Yes. You _remembered_!

A man with long reddish-orange hair and rippled grey eyes. He had many piercings and the first day you saw him, you had known how strong he was. His chakra had a unique feel to it, and in his eyes, you had nearly drowned in the unfathomable depths of intelligence and wisdom there gathered from the many years he lived, despite looking not a day over twenty. He told you he’d train you. He said he knew your plight…that your academy appointed sensei couldn’t give you the knowledge and power you craved, and thus deprived you of the ability to rise to even half of your potential. 

More memories flashed across your mind. Days when you trained, when this man had beaten you so hard in training sessions that you felt every bone in your body was shattered. But every day, despite one humiliating defeat after the next, you became stronger and stronger. You learned ways to manipulate your chakra that no one else could do. Those ten sigils on both your hands, they were unique to you, as the Rinnegan was unique to Pein. Though with them, you were still hopelessly, hilariously outmatched by this man.

Then you realized, there was one you hadn’t touched. Why hadn’t you touched it? Because Pein had begun to teach you what to do with it, but never finished and had to leave. He sealed your memories back from your recollection for a reason that you didn’t understand right now and he hoped you wouldn’t forget everything he taught you in the process. But you forgot most of it, the only things sticking with you being of the subject that you were the best at; medicine. It was a tremendous struggle for you to remember how to use even one symbol. The Fire Symbol. 

But why? 

It kept coming to your mind…why would he make you forget what he taught you?! And better yet. Why was he making you remember these things now when you were in a life/death situation? If he thought he was saving your ass, there couldn't be a _worse_ opportunity to bring in all these old flashbacks to the past.

 _/All will be made clear soon enough./_ He said, detecting your perplexity. _/What is important is that you do as I say without question right now./_

You didn’t bother responding but he sensed your agreement all the same and moved onwards with the second set of handseals while you tried to keep your wits about you. They were taking your silence as a cause of worry. And they were right to do so because once Pein finished the second set of seals, your eyes shot open and you stared ahead, sensing that a seal within was shattered. But little did you know that it was a seal he put on you long ago. The flood gates were open and chakra roared forth and through you, threading you with such adrenaline you’d never felt before in your life. 

But wait! There was more!  
That one little sigil beneath the joint of your left little finger was glimmering softly, almost calling to you. What was it? You were trying to remember what Pein told you about it. Slowly but surely, those words from the past came bubbling up to your recollection.

**”It assumes its form in your greatest time of need.” He had told you back then, a girl with large purple eyes that goggled up at him with a strange hunger from where you sat on the ground, immensely short by comparison to his full height.**

**“What do ya mean?” You had asked him then. He merely shook his head and unfolded his arms.  
“When the chance arises, you will see. Now get up. Break is over.”**

 

_/Use it./_

_’What? Use WHAT?’_

_/Stand still and use it./_

_’But HOW?!'_

_/DO AS I SAY!/_ He roared, startling you into faltering long enough to see a many-pronged attack that there was no way out of.

Tendrils of wood entangling your legs from below…a Rasengan from above…the biggest Raikiri yet from your left, and Sakura running at you from your right, and Sai’s mythic ink beasts charging you from the front. You couldn’t move. You were going to die. There was no avoiding this. How could it end here? How dare they stand against you and succeed? You practically lost it, no longer caring who could see. Panic set in and your heart screamed against its cage. _’No…’_ You hacked at the roots with your wakizashi, but it was futile. The blade cracked on the first few attempts, and then a heart-wrenching ‘SHING!’ later, it broke in two. Large slit-marks were made across the iron-bark wooden tendrils, which was creeping further up your body, curling around your arms and thoroughly immobilizing you.  
_’No.’_

They were closing in and you had zero options. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men wouldn’t be able to put Saiya together again…not when these people were done with you.

_’NO!!!!!’_

This was it.  
The wooden arms constricted tighter with every wriggle, keeping you good and still for the final barrage. There really was nothing for it. You weren’t fast enough for once. You weren’t smart enough. Did sensei still think you were worth his effort? What about the others? Would they take bets with Kakuzu over your life expectancy? 

In a moment of lucidity, the panic dispelled and you tried not to agonize over it, accept the situation for what it is. The only way you could get out of this mess was if you weren’t solid. If you were wind, if you were a spirit or a shadow, you could handle this no problem. If you were a ghost you could do it.  
But nah. They were gonna ghost _you_. You weren’t gonna ghost _yourself_.

Nothingness as they closed in on you. Just blackness. Comforting, weightless…

….the silence before they struck…  
….and the ear-splitting racket afterwards.

It drove you up the wall.

Your purple eyes flew open, despite your mind’s rationality and warning that all you’d see was your own guts oozing out from between the spaces of Yamato’s branches. But what you saw instead, through the deepening haze, was a set of people backing away in abject horror, mouths opening and closing in various noises and protests. Even neutral Sai was scared, simple as that...scared out of his wits. All of them were.

Obscuring your vision was nothing but winding branches that were splintered in many places by the various attacks, also dripping with pure black ink, but unless you were mistaken, there wasn't any blood. You couldn’t feel your body. You couldn’t feel _anything_.

Up above, Pein watched intently and expectantly. 

_/Good girl./_

It had worked. His years-long labor had born fruit. But you did not comprehend any words. All you heard was noise. White noise, red noise, AWFUL NOISE!

Without any idea what you had become, you tore forewords, blurring through the air in a movement unable to be tracked by the naked eye. You floated before them, translucent and wrapped in thousands of trailing bloodstained bandages, eyes aglow in brilliant purple, your hair longer than normal, flowing and swirling around your pale shape. 

Sakura’s eyes bore into your own fearfully. She couldn’t remember the last time she witnessed such _unadulterated hatred_ in anybody. Even in Sasuke when speaking of Itachi. It was hate. _Real_ hate. Not the stupid, ‘I hate you, you touched Sasuke!’ type of thing shared amongst fangirls far and wide.  
She had seen you act like this earlier. When you heard that music. Except this was on a much more intense level, and her attention was caught by Sai's agonized scream, his neutral mask falling away. You had a hand buried in his chest, gripping his heart and squeezing it tightly, your arm turning from bloodstained white to blackest black, evil flames of chakra burning around your ghostly forearm. 

You threw him to the side and rotated in midair to face Sai’s friends.

“No! Sai!” Sakura ran to him, only to incur your wrath by moving. Before the eye could blink Sakura was thrown several feet into the air, a wavering ribbon of blood marking her trajectory. But before she made contact with the broken ground, you appeared behind her and slammed her back the way she came. This happened a few times, like you were playing volleyball, until you at last spiked her towards Naruto who was thrown hard to the ground. His eyelids fluttered and the blank expression was gone.

“S-Sakura…chan?” He asked listlessly, twitching under her. She couldn’t move. She was out cold, bleeding from wherever your ghostly hands touched her skin. Luckily she had a reasonable amount of clothing covering her.

“Naruto!” Kakashi called. “Are you both alright?!”

“I…I…I’m fine…” He managed, trying to sit up. His eyes fell on the area behind you. Two more shadows dropped across the ground, one lifting the shape of a triple-bladed scythe to rest over his shoulder. A wind breathed through the ruined, broken city, carrying the heady stench of death upon it and disturbing the haze. Nausea broke over Yamato and Kakashi looked like he was fit to vomit as well. They'd been ignoring the sensation for awhile, but now it was overwhelming. He closed his red eye and dragged his hitai-ate over it. The Sharingan was sapping too much energy for him to keep using it. To top it all off, the sun was setting. Combined with the mist hanging in the air, it was a strain to see your ghostly body at all in the half-light of dusk.

The sky was blood red. It matched the crimson spattering the Sound Nation well. “Withdraw…” Kakashi choked, and he looked over his shoulder at Naruto.

Yamato took Sakura from Naruto and he ran off while Kakashi summoned a ninja dog to fetch Sai, and then he himself helped Naruto. They had to find a way out of here while there was some light left to see by. It was going to be a new moon tonight, and too many of them were injured.

Hidan and Kakuzu started after the enemy, but a voice stopped them.

“Let them go.” The familiar voice ordered, and they peered up in time to see Pein’s vermillion haired self leap down from his perch atop a leaning building. Kakuzu watched you warily where you were appeared quite confused, clutching your head as a ghost and closing your glowing eyes in an attempt to regain your senses.

“She will be fine.” Pein added, following Kakuzu's gaze.

“So uh…where the fuck did her body go?” Hidan asked, wondering if he really wanted to know the answer to that question. 

Pein motioned towards your pale form. “Saiya has finally activated her last Sigil. It has taken the form of an ability that was most useful to her at the time; the ability to manipulate her cells so she can assume the shape and abilities of a ghost.” 

That meant that now they weren’t the only two whom were seemingly immortal. 

“Is it possible for her to change back?” Kakuzu inquired with sudden urgency, as though remembering something.

“Concerned?” Pein asked tauntingly.

“I am concerned for my wallet, which she stole.”

“Ah. Yes. When her corporeal body is healed fully she can take her normal form again.” 

“Too fucking bad Kakuzu, you can’t take both of those wallets from her now.” Hidan teased, laughing. “This is too damned funny!”

“I fail to see the humor in the situation.” Kakuzu responded dryly. 

“Good work everyone.” Pein said purposefully, breaking up the conversation before it got into a full-blown hissy-fit between the two men. You were coming around now, your eyes weren’t glowing so much anymore. They now gleamed very slightly from within, as though to prove to any onlooker that you are alive.

“Huh? What happened?” You asked, voice disembodied and echoing a bit as you turned around and around to survey the damage. “I don’t get it. I’m confused.” In your confusion, you phased out of sight, and Hidan blinked. "That's weirder than her green pills."

“Yes. It is.” Kakuzu admitted reluctantly. 

“HAH! Finally! I have something over you two!” You gloated loudly, your voice glaring off their eardrums because it was still very much disembodied. But you slumped in midair. “Which also means I'm equally as creepy. Lame.” 

Hidan smirked. “Aw come on, you know you had a freak flag, you just never flew it.”

“Until now I guess.” You grumbled, floating over to them, then looking at Pein whom was openly amused at the three of you.

“Solidify already so you can give me back my damned wallet!” Kakuzu fumed in a low, deadly tone, making you crack up laughing. “HAHA yeah right, you think I’m going to listen?!”

“You will be giving it back with _interest_ , woman.” He snapped.

“Like hell I am!”

“Enough!” Pein shouted before Kakuzu could fire back a creative retort. “We will leave _now_.”

You blinked. “You’re coming with us?” 

“Yes.” He led the way towards the exit. 

With this said the group followed Pein, you flowing along beside them in the air.  
There were tons of things to think about for later when you could question him.


	18. Hell Hath No Fury

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's some technical issues with your new found ability which must be resolved. But now it is time to go with Akatsuki to a nameless city where you recognize a betrayal and must alleviate your tension with some wonderfully therapeutic 'exercise'.

Hell Hath No Fury

 

During the time it took the cell of four to travel…which was now taken over by Pein, a lot of interesting conversation was had. Mainly it consisted of you and Hidan taking a snap at each other one way or another. An outsider would probably think that you two formerly courted.

“SHUT. YOUR. FUCKING. MOUTH!” Hidan shouted, making birds scatter from their perches. Pein had developed a twitch in his left eyebrow (intensely unusual behavior, for such a composed man), and Kakuzu was trying vainly to tune the two of you out.

Five minutes passed with more bickering. Then you snarled at Hidan, “SO?! YOUR **FACE** IS ANNOYING!”

“NUH-UH!”

“YUH-HUH!”

Erm. Maybe an onlooker would think you two were related instead. If you were in corporeal form that is.

“For fuck’s sake.” Kakuzu grunted, glaring over his shoulder while walking three paces behind Pein. “It is even worse when she’s a ghost.”

It was true. Your disembodied voice echoed terribly despite that the cell wasn't traveling in a cave. And it was a bloody jarring noise to bear when you raised your voice. It almost perforated his eardrums, which were becoming more and more sensitive while you and Hidan rampaged on and on without showing any signs of letting up.  
Until finally both of you went quiet and shunned one another, not being stupid enough to swing your fists at each other in Pein’s presence. He wouldn’t stand for that. Kakuzu looked around in wonder. “Have I gone deaf?”

“If so then I have as well.” Pein grated out, turning to glance over his shoulder. There you two were, keeping well away from each other. Pein chuckled inwardly, remembering how you had been as a child. You were more adult _then_ as opposed to how you are _now_ , ever the odd one. As a little girl you were severe and hungry. Not physically. No, you were hungry for knowledge and absorbed it readily. Pein never had to repeat himself unless you were trying to wheedle some piece of coveted information out of him, as you had been known to do on a few occasions. Aside from that you were prepared to do whatever you must to become stronger and learn the things that the Grass Academy refused to add into its curriculum. The darker things that, as they viewed it, would lead a young ninja down the ‘wrong path’. Teachings that were considered forbidden and sinister.

One of these things was introducing you to the skill of poisoning, something that since olden days became an art much loathed and spat upon. Chemical weapons offered an absurd amount of power and were feared because of the vast potential yet untapped by men and women who dared to practice poison-making. Only one or two in every so many shinobi become serious about it, whereas others apply toxins in miniature dosages to handicap the opponent within a limited range of effects, and even _that_ was largely frowned upon. Sasori, his grandmother Chiyo, yourself, the past Gyaku prodigies, and a relatively small assortment of other ninja were the only ones to take poison usage seriously into one’s strategy. It was something looked upon as a cheap dirty tactic and usually, depending on the severity, was a one-way ticket straight to hell for the one on the receiving end. Surely because this was something that has proven to be an excellent tool, Pein decided that it would behoove you to learn the art that was so ready to be completely forbidden and eventually forsaken in a world steadily attempting to shift towards demilitarization. The more discreet ninja practices would be the first to go.

Although Pein didn’t openly claim to know everything about it, he imparted enough knowledge on the matter to present to you, his eager pupil. You took that information and ran with it. He also taught you more about genjutsu and eradicated all the myths that the academy had instilled in your young mind. He hadn’t been surprised at how spotty your training had been up until he took you under his wing. And with the plans Pein had for you at that point…crappy training simply would not do. He gave you all the materials you would need and discarded the idea that a true healer doesn’t require a real weapon. That was how you came to acquire a wakizashi. Pein gifted that blade to you. It was not the best, so he was surprised it had lasted as long as it had. Originally he intended to wean you off that damned wakizashi and move you on to a full-fledged katana. But he had to leave around then, which is when he was helping you branch out to become stronger in battle once you were out of his hands as a medic and were ironing out your own flaws in that aspect. 

Sadly Pein had not yet come to terms with the fact that you were beginning to be spread a bit thin over all the bases. All these things he wanted you to learn take people years to figure out and you were taking about that long yourself to become accustomed to the strange abilities unlocked through the symbols branded into the skin of your fingers. Which, now that they are mentioned…those ten symbols were getting darker with use and were almost sepia toned, the ones you used the most being darkest in hue while the one for ‘Ghost’ was not even visible yet unless in use, and still you were in specter form. 

“Ugh, how do I stop this thing? I want to get off!” You complained, floating beside Pein. Hidan had drawn level with Kakuzu a minute ago.

“You tell me.” Pein answered coolly, not minding your bellyaching. Considering your present state, he expected that you'd be upset. It wasn’t something you were used to after all. It was only natural. He'd be more concerned if you kept quiet on the subject.

“Hey I’m not the only one who couldn’t get anyone to talk right?” Hidan interjected abruptly. “They went and sacrificed themselves for some fucking demon who doesn’t give a shit about them.” 

“Not for the jinchuuriki. They sacrificed themselves for Uchiha Sasuke.” Kakuzu corrected shrewdly. “He ordered them to lay down their lives to protect the demon. And they listened.”

The somewhat pointed discourse on failed interrogation managed to distract you from your translucent predicament. You thought back to the time spent in the Sound Country, attempting to remember if you had heard anything about the Tailed Ones. “Ah, damn. I don’t remember if I heard anything worth mentioning."

“Do not waste your time trying to remember, because you didn’t ask anyone anything.” Pein supplied helpfully. “I observed you the whole time.”

“Creepy and stalkerish as that doesn’t sound…” You muttered. 

“So Sasuke’s up to something.” Hidan prodded moodily. 

“Yeah he is.” You assented readily. “He tried to get me to leave with him. And not only that, but I’ve gained the impression that he has plans for the world overall."

“His designs will undoubtedly hinge on the death of Itachi at first. He has proven that vengeance is foremost on his agenda.” Pein said while absentmindedly glancing around. _’And I_ won’t _know until Saiya heals Tobi…Zetsu didn’t know **everything**_.’

“It’s not _our_ fucking problem is it?” Hidan grunted. “Why make it into a big deal?”

His words were cause for your disembodied voice to rumble through all three men. This situation was on your mind since Sasuke's most recent appearance. “Excuse you, Hidan? It could _become_ our problem in a big way. And then there’s the fact that he wants Itachi’s head mounted over his mantle, let’s face it…one way or another, some of us are getting dragged through the mud." You went on, undeterred by the branches going through your weightless body. "We are all in way too far _not_ to get involved. And then there is the fact that like it or not, we are more or less in the public eye. I’m not sure if you noticed but we don’t exactly have the same fan-base as Uzamaki Naruto and his cronies, most people want us all _dead_." You paused for a moment, lowering your voice. "This is bad news. If things keep going on like this we’ll be stuck between a rock and a hard place.”

“She has a point. This is a situation that must be dealt with before it gets out of hand.” Pein agreed sternly, shooting a reprimanding glance Hidan’s way for being so brazenly ignorant.

Little more was said for the duration of the journey back to the hideout. 

 

_The Grass Country; Within the Gyaku Compound Ruins…_

“Holy fuck, was this place a brewery or what?” Glass popped, crunched and cracked underfoot as a team of ANBU each bearing the Leaf hitai-ate picked their way through debris. They had arrived at the Gyaku Compound one day ago and were actually staying in the abandoned bedrooms there. The place was perfectly habitable; despite how it had been broken into and picked over by rogue shinobi and ravaged to pieces in some areas by the passing ordinary thief who had heard of the Gyaku fortune that was possibly left behind. It had been all but _completely_ cleaned out by the Grass’s second missing-nin; Gyaku Saiya…and by all rights every stitch of the goods belonged to her (althought she acquired it all ‘ahead of schedule’), but there was always the hope that she had missed something on her way out. Aside from that there was a wine cellar and an underground network of very narrow, severely ambiguous walkways. After walking down the shortest of these, the ANBU cell had discovered another alcohol cache that was the second easiest of them all to access. 

One of the men recognized the brands of alcohol at once; Black Sun, Blood Moon and Silvervaine. All of them were famed for the high proof each boasted…if you had a non-existent alcohol tolerance you would be staring at your barstool from the floor after downing a single glass. Despite how high the proof was on each of the three types, the only one that actually flat-out burned all the way down was Black Sun. It was so dark blue that it was black in most lighting. And fuck, did it kill to drink it. This wasn’t for the weak of stomach. Blood Moon’s a drink that looks exactly like blood but certainly didn’t taste like it because it had its own unique flavor and it tingled pleasantly in your mouth but above all, it was just an acquired taste. Silvervaine was best described as soothingly delicious; it didn’t even tickle the throat and had a smooth flavor and texture, being slightly thicker than most types of drink. It did not even taste like alcohol and didn’t smell like it either; it was sweet and highly addictive and interesting in appearance: crystal clear with silvery wisps shimmering through it if you shook the substance in its bottle. 

“This ain’t a cache, it’s a storage cellar. And you know what? I bet that’s all a lot of these passages lead to. Wine cellars an' the sort.” One of them said as he remembered the first time he drank Silvervaine. He met his girlfriend at a bar and they both drank all of the stuff that the barkeep had. They were falling-down drunk and instead of a migraine both of them felt amazing the next morning. There was no real way to describe it accurately, but whatever was in it was otherworldly. Whether the Gyaku's mixed in chakra of some form or an unnamed plant or narcotic, it was impossible to say now, on account of them all being dead. He shuddered and turned his thoughts back to the day he met his girl.

And that right there was one reason why he had to get this mission done and head home as soon as possible; he had a wonderful lady waiting for him, and he still had to find an engagement ring to give her. “Damn, these people must’ve been rolling in the riches.” He muttered, thinking about the cost of even the least expensive rings he had already seen.

Another nodded in agreement, idly picking a gnawed pinky nail and turning on the spot to address a broken-down wall of shelving, his dim green-grey eyes scanning carefully from side to side. “Yes, from what I was told the Gyaku Clan made their money off alcohol. Most of the clansmen did not follow the ninja way. Only a handful ever did, so nearly all of them went into the family business. Guess that's _one_ way to be successful."

“Yeh see’ awfulla knowledgeable abou’ alluh dish crap.” A third grunted. He spoke in such a pronouncedly guttural way due to an injury of the jaw that could not have been repaired better if Tsunade herself came down to the hospital to play doctor. His way of speaking (for lack of a better description; it was not a dialect, nor some accent) was harsh on the ears and as such, the other ANBU felt blessed when he kept his trap shut. Fortunately he was a man of few words. But since he seldom speaks he near always made a point to make sure that it was something that carried possible importance. Except when he was drunk, and he'd been stealing nips from the flask he carried at his belt. Alcohol helped dull the pain of his permanently damaged nerves, but the damage to his jaw wasn't severe enough where he permitted himself to be alleviated from duty permanently on account of a disability. He watched the others, curious as to if they found anything. He certainly hadn't, but then again, it was hard to see around the curve of a bottle.

“I made it my business to know so that we may have an idea of what to expect.” The other responded crisply, heading back out into the main basement and up the steep flight of stairs. “We have searched down here for hours and found nothing. It is time to move on. We have the other buildings to cover.”

This was easier said than done; the compound took up a massive chunk of land and many of the structures had fallen so heavily into disrepair that they dissembled into heaps of garbage with the help of time, exposure to the elements, lack of upkeep and Gyaku Saiya's exit. The village had to kill those whom were infected with the poison before they spread it too far to others, and when a person is reduced down to their animal instincts like they had been, you know only two impulses: fight or flight. Because of that a lot of places in the village had been torn apart. The only place that had not been repaired after that incident was the largely abandoned Gyaku Compound.

Hell, corpses were still rotting all over the place. The ANBU squad found this out the hard way; while their masks temporarily kept the stench of desiccated meat out of their nostrils long enough for them to trip over the dead left in the living room of the main house in the compound. Then they got the full blast of the disgusting fume, a smell indescribable by words alone. One of the ANBU summed it up nicely enough, though wordlessly. He fled the room and launched the entire quasi-digested contents of his stomach out so violently it was nearly projectile vomit. He was new to the Black Ops division and this was the first time he came across such a debacle.

The others tried to hold their breath for awhile and managed to wade around furniture and across the cadaver-cluttered floor while the one ANBU explored less smelly areas of the huge house. This one used to sit not far off the main street, but the feudal lord here ordered a fence to be built up to keep the Gyaku Compound out of sight and presumably out of mind. He had decided that the derelict plot of land and housing was an eyesore….but oh no...no no no, he wasn’t about to have it ripped down. And no one knew _why_ that was.

So in a way it was pure dumb luck that the ANBU had a place to explore at all. Their mission was to find out as much about Gyaku Saiya as possible and relay that information to Shizune so she could take further action in turn. Tsunade had Shizune on a fact-finding mission so Konoha could learn as much about Saiya as possible. That mission was to know here so they could kill her, and do so with deadly efficiency. 

“Any word from the others?” The team leader queried, turning his head so he could address the one accompanying him from over his shoulder. The other man just shook his head and continued picking through drawers and afterwards, pawed through a book case. The leader sighed and started checking the three desks in the large study they were currently sifting through for anything useful. This room had already been ransacked as it was. Hopefully someone else didn’t beat them to the punch.

Then someone yelled down the hall and through two rooms. His voice was faint. “HEY! I THINK I FOUND HER ROOM!”

Both ninja exchanged an incredulous glance through the eyeholes of their masks and shot out of the study, abandoning their work there. They hadn’t found anything anyway; everything in here was about finances, purchase orders and other assorted crap that a family owning a business would deal with. 

Upon practically sailing through the door, the other two were working elbow-to-elbow with the other ANBU with his weak stomach. Together they extracted scrolls, folders of notes, general paperwork from hidden locations around the room...piecing together anything they could from documents that, to the wrong eyes, meant absolutely nothing. But the Codebreaker Corps would be able to make sense of it all, and this was all they found yet.

But later when their report was received by Shizune and she took action…that’s when things started happening that probably could have been avoided.

 

_With You; at the Akatsuki lair…_

 

“Oh _man_ Tobi! Does this become a habit, now?" You groaned, floating next to his bed. Tobi didn’t even twitch. He was out cold. 

“Yes bitch at him while he’s unconscious that’ll make _everything_ better.” Sasori sneered from the doorway. You were before him in a blur of translucent color, your nose two inches away from his. “Hey. You have served your purpose. Now go the fuck away!”

He was asked to bring you to Tobi’s room so you could check on him, but since you were a ghost you didn’t know if it was wise to attempt to heal him. Sasori was more than slightly disgruntled towards the fact that he was being used as an errand boy all day, as yet. He had other things to accomplish but Konan and Pein seemed incapable of wrapping their heads around that concept today more than usual; apparently fixing up the last one of his puppets wasn’t considered important to them.

“I would love to except I was told to see this through.” Sasori retorted while crossing his arms. “Feel free to hurry up.”

“For that, Sasori, I think I’ll take my sweet time.” You said, smiling wickedly from under your ghostly bandages and gliding back over to the sleeping Tobi. The redhead behind you tensed considerably and bit back a scowl, arms folded with a shoulder set against the doorjamb. In all probability you were hoping for a reaction. He’d be damned if he offered one. But he’d be damned if he didn’t either, because one way or another you knew that making him wait was like chicken pox without lotion. Plainly, it sucks.

But then, when Sasori began mustering up a fantastically rude comeback, someone grabbed his shoulder and jerked him backwards into the hallways. Sasori’s mouth parted in an involuntary cry, steadying himself with a hand against the wall. In walked Kisame with a grin on his face. Itachi followed him in. “You may leave, Sasori.” Itachi instructed, his tone clipped. Sasori forgot any insult on his mind and headed off down the hall, ruffled though he was. If he could avoid being stuck there doing nothing when you promised to waste as much time as possible; then he’d _take_ that opportunity in less than a heartbeat.

“Lo’.” Kisame greeted. You turned around and nodded to them, knowing that a smile in your current form would be pointless since you are mostly mummified. “Hey guys. What’s up?”

“We heard about your new ability,” Itachi answered coolly, sitting down on the chair at Tobi’s unused desk. 

“...wanted to see it for ourselves.” Kisame finished off, amusement wavering in his words. 

“I feel so loved, Blueberry-kun.”

“So what’re you waiting for? Gonna fix him already?” Kisame asked.

“Ah, that’s my dilemma. I’m worried that if I try to heal him in this form I’ll end up harming him instead.” 

Itachi, whom had randomly taken notice that it was time for him to repaint his nails, frowned back up at you from where he had been eyeing his fingers. “If anything it should be far easier.”

You laughed nervously. “But what if--

 

“—what if you stop saying ‘what if’?” Itachi countered. “Leader would not have asked you to heal Tobi if he knew you to be incapable of doing so in your current state.”

Let it be said that a ghost looking blankly at a person is supposed to be quite unnerving. There you were, hanging in the air, staring at him with gently glowing purple eyes; just staring at him, trying to understand. Nothing special, but a lot of people would’ve bolted by now, tail tucked firmly between their legs.

“I guess.”

Itachi closed his eyes then reopened them. They had become brightest blood red that you’d ever seen them, with the three tomoe dotted around his pupil shaded in the darkest black. When he looked at you with his Sharingan you felt as though Itachi was x-raying you, looking straight through and seeing every single fault. “As you are, Saiya, you are made of pure energy.” He said. Those eyes. They felt different now since you had healed them. In fact, the odd thing was you sensed the power behind them far more intently as a specter than you had when in the flesh. 

“Hey, don’t point that at _me_!” You protested, disliking the sensation of those Sharingan focused solely upon you. They were so intense that they made you a touch squeamish. Pein’s Rinnegan didn’t unsettle you quite as much because you were used to them in some distant way, though at the time, you didn't realize it for what it was. When you were a kid you had endured that withering gray stare. There was a bit of immunity gained from that experience.

“Do your job and that will not be a problem.” Itachi ordered calmly. Kisame secretly felt bad for you. Itachi was a pretty frightening person even unarmed, merely staying put in a chair, only _looking_ at you. This is a man capable of placing an adversary in the hospital for a week, all in one second. If he spent more than a moment on them with his Tsukiyomi, his victim could spend the rest of their life propped up in a chair with a bib around their neck…or otherwise, a recipient of Tsukiyomi could up and _die_ if their mind and soul were especially weak.

“So Saiya, uhh..” Kisame came to the rescue and decided to get your mind off of Itachi’s Sharingan. He knew something was off; normally it didn't bother you so much. It probably had something to do with your ghostly shape. “…how’d you turn into a…you know…”

“Ghost?” You supplied helpfully, relieved to turn your attention away from Itachi. “Well…” You regaled them with a recollection of the incident and how it must have happened. Itachi kept his Sharingan on you the whole time until you finally got around to healing Tobi, or trying to. 

While focusing on talking you had forgotten any doubts you had. Instead you considered how Tobi needed help right now and that it was best not to dally. You thought of healing his wounds and cut off speaking, frowning down at him. 

“Saiya? You kinda stopped there.” Kisame prodded, but you didn’t respond. Your glowing pupils were focused on Tobi’s torso. “What the fuck?” You murmured under your non-existent breath. “How can I…I thought of where I should start first and now…I can see his insides.”

Itachi kept watching you like a hawk but Kisame’s dead shark’s eyes switched towards Tobi’s form. “Wha? You mean you got x-ray vision or something?”

“I guess that’s one way to put it.” You tried not to laugh. This shouldn’t be a funny situation. “But no wonder why he’s stayed unconscious.” His innards were smashed up pretty badly. It was crazy that he was even alive right now. You moved closer and reached out, placing a hand on his stomach and tried to use the Mystic Hand technique. A pale flame of chakra shimmered to life, burning around your bloodstained bandaged hand. When Itachi and Kisame strained their ears they could hear sloshing noises, popping, relocating, mending…Tobi’s body was being healed at an accelerated rate. But the more chakra you used, the less visible you were.

“Saiya? You still there?” Kisame asked at once. When you tried to answer him it was pointless; your voice was so faint it sounded like you were a hundred miles away.

“Itachi, can you see what the hell is happening?”

There was a long minute that Itachi remained quiet. He was considering the situation.  
“As a ghost, Saiya is made of pure energy. Her chakra supply must be switched with her real body. Raw chakra can only be seen with the unaided eye when there is so much of it that it becomes more tangible…as with Chidori or a Rasengan. Since Saiya’s body is not here, we are watching the shape her chakra took to represent her while it depletes. If she uses much more, I am unsure of what will happen.”

Apparently you heard this loud and clear because you stopped what you were doing. Itachi’s red eyes were on you because he could see you with his Sharingan and Kisame figured that out, you noticed that his eyes kept darting back and forth from Itachi to the place Itachi was watching. 

“I wonder if Leader knew this would happen.” Itachi murmured, leaning back in the chair. “In this case Saiya, it is unwise to continue.”

They heard a very distant, disembodied and _quite_ frantic; ‘NO SHIT?!?!’ from where you floated invisibly in the air. This was the weakest you ever felt. And you were getting fainter still.

“Kisame.” Itachi began, struck by realization. “Leave the room. Your Samehada…” He trailed off because Kisame could finish the thought on his own. He understood and vacated the area, a hand now on the long handle of his blade. He didn’t appear offended; if anything he was ticked off at himself for not realizing it sooner. Even if he wasn’t using it to do so his specialized sword was doing a number on you. Itachi watched Kisame leave and then narrowed his eyes in your direction. _’For all I have heard of this form’s capabilities, it is still far too vulnerable.’_ He thought. _’Something must be done about this.’_

But that’s the question isn’t it? It was something that had been nagging at the back of your mind ever since you had the time to consider it. How do you iron out your weaknesses as a spirit? That is, assuming that this form is a permanent fixture as an ability now. Pein had said that the one unused sigil would take a form that would help you the most in your situation. Did you even _have_ to figure out a way to strengthen this new ability of yours? 

“Saiya. You have done enough here. Come with me.” Itachi rose from the chair and started for the door, not even chancing a glance towards you. “And do not consider wandering off on your own. I will be able to find you.”

A chill ran over you in some distant place as you followed Itachi. That was the first thing you felt other than the dull throb of the numerous horrendous wounds on your body…wherever the hell it was. At first you had reasoned out that your body was right here and all that happened was that your chakra converted your cells into a different form. But that never explained the bandages. 

It turned out that Itachi was bringing you straight to Pein. 

As usual Pein wasn’t surprised. You sometimes wondered if he could see through walls.

“What’s going on Itachi?” Konan asked boredly, flipping a piece of paper over and reading the other side. They were in the room that most called the library. But it really had more than that to it. This place was also where the reports were filed in a door-less room adjacent to this one. And there was a couple tables and chairs around the place. Pein was poring over some reports and Konan was right there with him as usual.

“…” Itachi turned to you and Konan squinted dryness out of her eyes, now following the Uchiha’s gaze. “Don’t waste our—“

“He isn’t.” Pein cut in sharply, rising from his chair. He had been able to see you immediately and that the situation had gone terribly wrong. When you slumped in midair Konan caught the movement too and did a double take, noting an extraordinarily indistinct outline of wavering energy bending the air around you. “What the hell?” She asked loudly, eyes riveted to the spot. “Saiya is that _you_ or do I need to take another nap?” 

She had to strain her ears to hear you say, “Yeah, it’s me. Pathetic right?”

“What the hell did you _do_ you fool?” Pein ground out, mind running over the possibilities of what all the repercussions of your ghost manifestation could be. For once he had not foreseen every last thing. This was new to him as well. There had been no way of knowing what the last sigil would do.

Once again, from miles away, “I did what you told me to do and fixed Tobi up. _Now_ look at me! Oh wait. You can't!!!”

Pein avoided grimacing and motioned distractedly towards Itachi without even glancing at him in his peripheral vision. “Leave us.”

Itachi did as he was told and ambled out of the room, but wasn’t in any particular hurry to hop to it. He was curious about your predicament and any information he might gain from eavesdropping would be good to keep in mind for the future, should this happen again. 

“Okay so now what?” You called to Pein, whose exasperation was more apparent than he liked to let on. 

“Attempt to gather more energy.” He instructed. You stared at him like he was an idiot. 

“Don’t stand there, do it!” He snapped, making you flinch invisibly. Apparently he found this situation bad enough to be exceptionally stern about it, more so than usual. Serious enough to get pissed off at you for not taking action immediately after an order was issued. You concentrated and tried to gather more energy despite the sensation of your weakness. It was so hard to surpass the feeling, and exerting an effort to do anything at all only drew attention to your state: instead you became weaker and stopped at Pein’s somewhat alarmed expression. He could hardly see you at all now despite the fact that he was using his Rinnegan. 

“That’s enough!” Konan shouted. Surprise crossed Pein’s face and he turned to acknowledge Konan as though she hadn’t been there before. He had actually forgotten that you two were not alone. This matter was soaking up all of his attention.

“Pein, I remember now that she won’t be able to take in any energy as a ghost. I did some research on people who were known to be able to absorb chakra in the past. And I spoke to Kisame too. All the information I gathered pointed to one thing in particular: a person cannot gather energy unless they have physical contact with whatever it is that they are trying to take that energy from, or some kind of solid medium to use. Since she’s a ghost and is therefore nothing but pure energy, all she is doing is pointlessly expending the chakra that composes her.”

Thank Kami for Konan. You hung your transparent head, quite exhausted. If you were solid you’d be trembling and hacking both of your lungs up. You had never felt so damned weak in your whole life. And it wasn’t a feeling you cared to revisit in the future.

“…” Pein said nothing. He felt distantly ashamed for making you do something that could have proven fatal. Pein fucked up today. It was something that seldom occurred if at all, and being who he is, he should know these things. But it is such an uncommon ability that the biggest underlying weakness didn't arise for consideration. And to think! You had been his student, his work-in-progress…and he didn’t consider it thoroughly enough before he shot his mouth off and issued an order.

“If she used all her chakra Pein…” Konan let the threat cloud the air ominously, her tone heavy and tremulous with an emotion you couldn’t name. You shuddered and turned your back to them, floating away and in between some shelves. You wanted to put some distance between yourself and Pein in a futile hope that the next time he told you what to do; you wouldn’t be able to hear him. It was a useless desire to cling to. It’s not like you had the strength to run away and put miles between yourself and your former second sensei. It felt like a hopeless situation that you should be able to amend, but with this ability being so new, it was exceptionally hard to understand while under duress.

“Saiya.” Pein said at last, his voice laden with a type of resignation. “Come here.”

You looked over your unseen shoulder and hesitated, but listened and glided over to him sluggishly. You had told him before even if you didn’t like an order he issued you wouldn’t disobey him. 

“If anyone or myself ever gives you an order and your better judgment goes against it…” He hated himself for saying this, his ringed eyes glaring at an innocent spot of carpet, as though it had forced him to say it. This decision could shoot him in the foot later in life. “…then you may reserve the right to go against that order.” But he recovered his composure, his eyes resuming their distant cruel gleam edged in steel. “But for fuck’s sake if you abuse that privilege then you’ll regret it.” 

You didn’t even respond. You just hung in the air, feeling weaker than before and emptier than the Void Pein’s ring represented. He was acting different. He'd been so aloof, when you met him a time ago as an adult. You expected nothing less. But now that you remembered him from your childhood, his coldness was hurtful. Somehow, someway, in spite of all the tragedy he'd been a part of, and all those he cared for and lost...Nagato Pein opened up barely enough to the small, curious child who clearly respected and trusted him, so that he may not appear completely callous. Was it hope that spurred on the tiniest, most minute acts of kindness from this man? Was it that he wished to reciprocate what Jiraiya had given the three young friends who had no real means to survive on their own and protect themselves?

Had he really finished what he set out to begin? 

“I said that you have to learn to work with everyone including me. This means that we will resume our training where it was left off years ago.” He focused and made a few handseals and then splayed one hand outwards to you, his other hand gripping his wrist to brace it. He glanced over his shoulder. “Konan.”

“One second.” She got up and came around the table she sat at then stood on the other side of you, straight across from Pein. “Okay. What should I do?”

“Surround her. Quickly, she’s fading.”

Konan raised her hands and the sounds of fluttering, folding paper cluttered the air. Origami encased the space around you, which was hard to do on Konan’s part because you were invisible to her eyes. But you got the idea and hung in the human-sized compartment of paper.

“Very good. Now keep it that way until she is solid.” Pein told her, and touched his fingertips to the smooth, lukewarm white surface of Konan’s paper. “Saiya you must be touching the origami. I do not know if this will work, but we will try.”

You couldn’t speak if you wanted to by this point. Actually you were wondering if you’d be staying this way; head straight to Hell…do not pass go, do not collect 200 ryou. 

Pein channeled his own chakra right into the paper and Konan reinforced her diamond-shaped origami prison with her own chakra to contain Pein’s energy. Your eyelids had been drooping over eyes that no longer glowed, but they shot open and you bit back a scream. Energy was bouncing around through the prison, not allowed to escape and therefore, had only one place to go; straight into _you_. It had to go somewhere. And since you were touching the sides of the diamond-shaped paper prison, Pein’s chakra was starting to funnel into you. Before your own ghostly eyes you started to become more and more apparent, your bandages swirling around you along with your long black hair. You momentarily took notice that you weren’t bloodstained anymore, but a pure white mummy-ghost with trailing black tresses instead, eyes glowing purple again, fiercer than the dull sheen they had assumed before.

Pein remained concentrated and calm, pouring more chakra through. It wasn’t enough yet. If you changed back into your corporeal form now you wouldn’t have enough energy to move. No. He had to give enough to force your body to switch back on its own without you having to make it do so. 

Konan was having difficulties maintaining the thin barrier she had erected around the angular origami cell. It was sucking up a lot of effort on her part to keep on going. “Pein I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up!”  
“For as long as _I_ have to." Came his response. It wasn’t nearly as taxing on him…oh it hardly must be said but Pein is made of much tougher stuff than Konan could be in a thousand years if she trained every waking minute of every day. She was one of the greatest kunoichi to exist beyond the shadow of a doubt. But when it came down to raw power and stamina Pein had her beat hands-down. He is the Sage of the Six Paths. He is one of, if not _the_ , greatest to exist.

You cried out in pain but the small noise was lost amongst what felt like typhoon force wind gushing through you constantly. You wanted to jerk away from the paper but your ghostly form was all but fused to it. There was no getting out of this mess no matter what idea you came up with. This foreign chakra felt like it was killing you but in all actuality it was doing quite the opposite. In a place that suddenly felt less like it was a thousand miles away, your body was writhing in pure agony…squirming around on the floor of an inner dimension that came closer and closer to your ghost. You were screaming too loud for your own good in that place, for you were hurting your own head at this point. But the migraine that your brain gave birth to was nothing compared to the stinging and burning of every single nerve ending that your body possessed. It was almost like one time in the past when someone forgot to label a beaker containing acid and you poured the clear, benign looking liquid onto your hand after it got set on fire (long story). God, you couldn’t move your hand for five days after that fiasco.

But now that sensation was covering your entire body…from the soles of your feet to the roots of your hair, you burned with flames that didn’t exist and writhed in the greatest amount of pain you’d felt in your life. Energy consumption is an activity meant to be done willingly, something that should _never_ be forced. 

Luckily for Pein and Konan the barrier muffled most of the tortured shrieking that was now coming almost directly from you instead of from that far away place that it used to be heard from. Konan winced and swallowed the blood that was dribbling down over her tongue to pool below it. Her head was pounding and her breath was coming in heavier gasps like it would if she had sprinted from her bedroom to this library. Pein’s face creased into an expression of deepest concentration. “Almost.” He told Konan. 

Her eyes widened when she felt the barrier fracture and the paper tearing. Pein stopped passing his chakra into the origami prison and stepped back. The prison shattered and took the paper with it, vanishing into tiny fragments that ceased to exist when Konan stopped concentrating on it. There you stood, completely solid and looking like total shit. Your clothes were tattered beyond repair and you felt almost naked because of the air on your bare skin between the folds and rips of fabric that was cut apart from the fight you had with the cell from Konoha. You staggered and Pein grabbed you, holding you up. Konan took her cloak off and tucked it around you. Pein sighed and swept your weak legs out from under you and carried you from the room, your head lolling to the side as you watched the walls and ceiling go by from under your eyelashes. Itachi and Kisame were talking in the living area when Pein crossed by it and both men were up in an instant, following him…Kisame was quite concerned and Itachi was again curious. Although that wasn’t all that motivated him to follow Pein. He was kind of annoyed about the sight of him carrying you around like that. It wasn’t exactly a dignified position.

“Leader, what…?” Kisame started.

“She is well,” Pein answered quickly, his tone clipped. “But requires rest.”

“Wh..wh..what’re ya talkin’ about, I’m f-fine.” You protested dully, only to be promptly amazed at yourself for being capable of moving your mouth parts after such a painful ordeal. Your body ached something awful still and though you didn’t feel as weak as you had before, but were in no condition to move under your own power yet. Right now your body was adjusting to the sudden intake of new energy and converting it to your own chakra. At least you didn’t feel like you had been plunged headlong into a river of molten lava anymore.

“ No, you really are _not_.” Pein answered crisply. There was a sharpness in his tone that you barely caught, and Konan would've noticed it too if she were here. “You will rest for now. Until later.” He set you down on your bed once Kisame opened the door for him and then left, leaving a bewildered Itachi and Kisame in his wake. You rolled over, shivered, and tugged Konan’s cloak tighter around yourself, amethyst orbs blinking tiredly up at Kisame and Itachi’s faces. “What the hell happened?” Kisame’s gruff voice demanded.

“Leader and Konan crammed a whole lot of chakra down my throat, that’s what.” You responded wearily. “It hurts like a sonofa-bitch.”

Kisame exchanged a glance with Itachi and both men shook their heads a little. “He never shoulda had you fix Tobi up as you were.” Kisame said.

“This is true.” Itachi said. “I suspect he would not have had her do it if Tobi did not maintain some information he requires. He and Zetsu had to split up during their mission and both learned different things.”

“What did they have to do?” You asked drearily, moving to trap yourself between the wall and your pillows, making yourself look smaller than normal. You were the shortest member of Akatsuki; only being about two inches shorter than Itachi. And as slender as you were, you could curl up into a teeny tiny ball if you wanted to, which you were doing right now. It was kind of cute and childish, except neither of these men were about to admit that.

“Ehh..” Kisame sat down on the bed now that you weren’t hogging the whole mattress and Itachi ambled over to the desk chair he usually took up whenever he was in your bedroom. He sat on it the wrong way and rested his arms on the top of the backrest. 

“They had to go check something out involving Sasuke.” Kisame finally admitted. “I don’t remember everything about it. But Itachi and I are gonna end up on some mission involving Sasuke in the future. Konan said they’re still ironing out some details before they figure out what exactly is goin’ on.” He wasn't sure that he was allowed to divulge this information, but it was too late now.

“Sasuke took over the Sound Nation once Orochimaru was killed. He was using it to his advantage and also has possession of the Seven-Tailed demon. My brother had the jinchuuriki moved once he caught wind that we were about to capture it.” Itachi began, filling in some gaps. You nodded in the appropriate places whilst listening. 

“My brother is trying to bring all of his plans together. He wants me to die of course, but in addition to that, he is attempting to use the Seven-Tail’s power to resurrect our clan. He every attempt has resulted in failure. And since he cannot give life to anyone on his own, he is trying to get a hold of you, Saiya.”

“Maybe he should try fucking girls. We get pregnant that way.” You quipped dryly, already feeling somewhat better now that you got to lie down. “It’s not like he’ll get Uzamaki preggie or anything so he better turn bi real fucking fast if that’s what he wants, because I’ll be damned if I help him bring back such a big group of people.”

A smile curved Itachi’s lips while he was plotting something and Kisame thought he caught a blush blossoming at the apples of your cheeks. Noticing your ‘adoptive brother’s eyes upon your face you turned your head and buried your nose into a pillow that you were hugging against. Kisame smirked. He knew now. Oh yes, he knew that you were attracted to his teammate; he’d be blind if he didn’t notice it. Of course to a point he had always known this but now it seemed this attraction was intensifying.

“I have a request to make of you Saiya.” Itachi began politely, but you didn’t budge. “Yea? What?” Came your muffled reply. 

“It’s rude not to make eye contact when someone’s talking to you, ya know.” Kisame reprimanded tauntingly. You flipped him the bird and Kisame laughed. 

“Is it possible for you to render a person sterile?” Itachi asked.

“Whaaaat?” You sat bolt-upright and squinted at the Uchiha through your bangs. “If I really wanted to then I could probably work something like that out. Why though?” You smirked. “Better yet; what’s in this deal for _me_?”

Itachi cocked his head and glanced at Kisame who had started laughing so hard that he was hunched over and shuddering, no sound coming out. There were too many funny ideas going through his head and he couldn’t say a damned thing about it…AGH! IT WAS TORTURE!

“What would you want in return for such a service?” Itachi inquired, his tone even and cool. 

“A service of another kind of course.” You answered, grinning evilly. “An _unnamed_ favor at an _uncertain_ time, shall we say?” You cut off there and flapped a hand in a ‘go on, go on’ gesture. “Take that how you will. It's okay to use your imagination."

Kisame nearly died right then and he fell over sideways, pounding a balled fist against the mattress while laughing loudly and hysterically. 

“Kisame are you okay?” You asked warily, now scooting forewords and hopping off your bed. You took Konan’s cloak off and folded it neatly then went to the desk Itachi was seated at and set it down. Itachi’s onyx orbs caught sight of the sorry state of your clothing; with how badly shredded it was and the large holes in it. He could see a sizeable amount of bare skin through those ragged spaces and his gaze continued to linger discreetly. 

Which is when his imagination was set as loose as you invited it to be. With the tiniest of frowns, he felt his blood begin to run warmer than normal with images and sounds flooding his mind. He could almost feel your skin under his fingers and nearly heard his name gasped close to a lust-deafened ear. He moistened his lips with the tip of his tongue and shook his head, bringing himself back to reality.

That was so _real_. Had you used a genjutsu on him? 

“Hey Itachi!” Kisame wasn’t laughing anymore. He was a bit confused at the literally unnatural silence and new stillness that overtook the other for a second time once you exited the bathroom clothed in a black skirt just lower than mid-thigh, fishnet leggings, the usual knee-high ninja boots and a three-quarter sleeved fishnet undershirt beneath a midnight blue sleeveless shirt. You had thrown your old clothes out. They were beyond repair. 

Kisame snickered nastily and got up. “Should I give you two a moment?”

“Y-“ 

“Nah. We’re good.” You broke in. 

“So are you going later, Saiya?” Itachi asked at last, showing the remotest amount of interest in your answer. He almost said 'yes' to Kisame's question. Not good. It was best to remain as aloof as possible at this point.

“Going where?’

“Did no one inform you?” Itachi pressed.

“Inform me of _what_?”

“Sometimes we all take a so-called ‘break’ and go to this one city…not only to relax but also to get any supplies we each might require personally.” Kisame explained. “It’s hard to find so that the authorities can’t crack down on it. Because of that it doesn’t have a real name. A lot of people jokingly refer to it as ‘Anarchy’ because it’s almost completely lawless.” 

“’Anarchy’?” You repeated incredulously. “What a name! They couldn’t come up with a better one?”

“Call it whatever you want. It does not have a name.” Itachi said, reiterating what Kisame already mentioned.

“Wait till’ you see it. They have everything and anything you could want there. The Black Market is based out of Anarchy. There is a port there also, but one of the biggest attractions is the Black Market itself and the arena.”

“They hold a tournament there around this time of year. Instead of testing us here like he does occasionally, Leader will admit all of Akatsuki into the tournament and gladiator games. The who’s who of the ‘criminal’ world all turn up there without fail, so it is a good test for us.” Itachi said a little blandly, his unfathomable eyes staring blankly at your wall. He didn’t want to chance making eye contact with you; he already knew that his eyes wouldn’t stay where they belonged and he didn’t want to let you know that you affected him in _any_ way, shape or form. 

“Yeah except if we get through the arena too easily he’ll test us anyway.” Kisame added, the usual laughter cropping up in his voice. “Because a lot of the best are traitors to their countries and have been captured like the damned idiots they are.”

“I see!” You exclaimed. “Sounds like tons of fun, you know? I can’t wait!” 

Kisame laughed and clapped you congenially on the shoulder, making you wobble a little where you stood. “You were almost dead an hour ago and now you’re all better? Hah!” 

“Yeah! Hey come on, I want to make something to eat, I’m starving and haven’t had a decent meal in awhile.” You pounced over the threshold of your bedroom door and scrambled towards the kitchen, Kisame and Itachi exchanging a look before following. By the time they got to the kitchen you already pulled an armload of ingredients out on the counter top and were filling up a pot halfway with water. You set this on the range top to boil and noticed your hair was still down so, sighing a little, you snatched up a pair of chopsticks and used them to pin your hair back into a bun to keep it out of the way whilst cooking.

“Hey you know what I just figured out?” You began when they entered the kitchen, still fiddling with your hair. “You mentioned the ‘who’s who of criminals’ and so on. Didn’t you mean us too?”

“ _Very_ good.” Itachi drawled, sitting down in his usual spot. “Just caught that have you?”

“Shaddup Weasel-boy! I’m all discombobulated n'stuff! You’d be too if you went through what I did!”

Kisame smirked and got himself a glass of water and drank it whilst you washed your hands thoroughly. You got to chopping and mixing things. Kisame kept getting himself one glass of water at a time and you paused mid-slice to watch him out the corner of a suspicious purple eye. He ignored you and said something to Itachi that you didn’t quite catch because you went right back to slicing veggies. 

When Kisame got himself another single glass of water and sat back down you became exasperated as you had once before and filled a pitcher, set it down in front of him, then went back to your business at the cutting board with a wrinkled nose. Kisame laughed at your attitude and Itachi almost smirked. _Almost_. He felt that he had exhibited enough emotion for today, thank you.

You took your time with finishing up dinner and the kitchen was overflowing with steam and delicious food-smells. In turn this attracted your freezing, hungry comrades. It was getting cold out, and since the Akatsuki lair is so well hidden in the earth, this place usually maintained a lower temperature. Now it was cooler than usual and people didn’t always wear their cloaks around here. In no time everyone was savoring the food and the warmth. 

Whenever the whole gang was at the table (except Tobi and Zetsu; Zetsu was usually out and about while Tobi was taking dinner in his room because he’s bedridden still) random and amusing things tended to happen despite the fact that Pein was there to witness the wackiness. He tended to make himself as unnoticeable as possible. He preferred to eat without running his mouth but he would suppress his laughter at the antics of the others. He had to maintain a strictly stoic appearance, after all.

For example, Hidan was harassing you, and then asked for a steamed bun right after he got done insulting you. You chucked one at his head and he caught it then started eating it. You pouted. That wasn’t how it was supposed to go; the hot bun was supposed to splat into his face and scorch his skin. _That’s_ how it was supposed to go. 

At the same moment on the other end of the table Deidara went to snatch the last bit of what was left in a bowl, but Itachi snatched it at the last minute purposefully before the artist could grab it and Deidara nearly stabbed him in the back of the hand with his chopsticks. He did however earn a glare from the Uchiha because the chopsticks scratched the side of his thumb and drew a line of pink that marked a miniscule amount of blood clotting the scratch. Deidara stuck his tongue out at Itachi and snatched something off Sasori’s plate before the redhead even registered what happened.  
When dessert time came around you and Konan started hogging all the sweets and then the battle of whipped cream began. You two were _most_ targeted but much of the whipped cream ended up on the ceiling, the floor, the walls, the chairs, all over the table, smeared across the counter tops and even rested in globs on the blades of the ceiling fan. How it even got up there was a mystery to Pein; he missed that part while you were dumping hot fudge into Kisame’s hair because he stole your coveted jar of cherries.

Gods, the servants were going to have fun cleaning up tonight…Pein was somewhat irritated that you all were acting so childish, but in a way, he wasn’t all that bothered by it. With the crazy-hard missions he had been sending you all on he figured that you guys would crack sooner or later and need to blow off some steam. This was another good point of making occasional trips to Anarchy. For as long as the tournament and games lasted the whole group got to unwind, ‘recharge their batteries’, restock the personal supplies of ninja toys, replace old clothing and so on. Despite being a bunch of S-class traitors to your countries, all of you are still quite human and do in fact need mental health holidays....and like any human, are exceedingly prone to silliness. It just doesn't show in normal circumstances.

Despite your exhausted state you mustered enough energy to make the trip to Anarchy. Everyone went, Tobi included. He required a little extra help from you so he would be able to get out of bed, but beyond that he discovered he was fine, and it wasn’t a big deal. The majority of the healing had been completed when you were a specter, and he had been on the mend during your mission to the Sound. 

The trip absorbed a great deal of time but it was completed during daylight hours; the destination lay below a wide ledge the whole of Akatsuki presently stood upon. Anarchy was a sprawling city cradled between a jagged, imposing mountain range and the glittering cerulean sea. Thousands of people-ants scurried through the four-inch-wide streets and toy bazaars, going about their business, many of these rushing towards what must be a gargantuan stone structure up close. It looked like a many-tiered octagon, plenty wide and tall. The building was obviously larger than life from this distance and elevation…as you shielded your eyes, you though that it must be stupidly big and in all probability, lavishly decorated inside and out. All you could see from this distance were the largest details.

From the moment Akatsuki set foot in those streets onward, a great amount of respect and purposefully indirect attention was attracted. Essentially Akatsuki is the cream of the crop when it comes to rogue shinobi. The group was tremendously feared, appreciated and respected in ways that weren’t possible in the ninja nations far outside of here, where laws and predilections about ethics and all else in life abound. Since there are other more insignificant missing-ninja around here as well, the obscure running joke was that although any missing-ninja is considered a traitor to their country, many of you didn’t bother to divulge any secrets. And that composed the largest fragment of the hate and fear towards shinobi who desert their villages. Those of Kage status and their underlings, as well as feudal lords, all were terrified that valuable information about their country could be leaking out indiscriminately because of even one rogue. 

Hell, you couldn’t quite recall if you had or had not divulged any info on the Grass, but you were fairly certain you hadn’t spoken of anything world shattering. This is part of what made it so ridiculous to you that those back at your former home town were so hot to capture you. Most of the hunter-ninja were after your blood and planning on eliminating you so no one could gain anything from your corpse. Except there are two huge flaws in that; for one, you weren’t planning on kicking the bucket any time soon…and for the second, because of how such information on the various villages is so well protected due to the concept of hunter-ninja and solemn oaths of loyalty to Kage and country, most of the time people wouldn’t utter a damned thing out of terror. Conversely, you mused, this meant that the threatened cowards and the power-hungry still amongst the living are the _real_ traitors to be worried about and dealt with. How can one know if some person spills the beans? You don’t know ahead of time, that’s for sure. Instead you are taken by surprise when a reaction occurrs that pertains directly to inside information that no one outside of the village should have at all.

In this town of traitors, brigands, thieves, murderers, rapists, merchants, innocent and not-so innocent citizens and all other walks of human life…you felt more at home than you did in your childhood house. The overall mood wasn’t anywhere near as uptight and despite this place being overtaken by total 'anarchy', it was also a ‘live and let live, but tread on me and I’ll tread on you’ type of environment, but only to a point. You must keep your wits about you here more than any other place, aside from maybe in the lion’s den (Akatsuki lair). 

While you cast your gaze from one place to another with all the curiosity of one seeing something for the first time, Pein gathered all of you together and spoke, effectively capturing your attention. 

“Come to the front entrance of the Arena at sunset.” He instructed all of you. “That is all. Dismissed.” 

Everyone scattered, but Pein lagged back beside you. You never noticed he was there until you looked to the side and spotted him silently matching his speed with yours. He was looking the other way, but if he was there he must have something to say.

“Leader?” You prodded.

He lazily turned his powerful eyes upon you and said, “I want you to get a katana while we are here. We will resume our training soon and I always intended to teach you how to use one.”

You nodded. “Alright, that’s not a problem. Anything else?”

“Yes. Be wary of Sasori.”

“What?” That was unexpected. Very unexpected, considering that you thought Sasori was over it by now.

“You heard me Saiya. I am sure that you know what it means.”

You stopped walking and stared at him, large-eyed and shocked. There was no calm kunoichi mask to play up right now; maintaining your cool in public was farthest from your thoughts at present. For some pathetic reason you thought that Sasori had given up now that he couldn’t train with you and therefore lost his greatest opportunity to formulate a fatal accident. If he still felt that he had a chance then that meant he might be watching you while here. He had told you from the get-go that he intended to make you his. At first you didn’t know what exactly that meant, as it translates in a few ways…however, you did decide by now that he planned to turn you into a puppet. He never was able to salvage some of them and it was a miracle he was able to fix his Kazekage puppet up as good as new. Granted it didn’t look precisely the same but the point is that he now had one of his most formidable weapons back. 

Pein didn’t stop walking. He kept going without you and soon vanished within the crowds on the street. 

“He’s right, un.” Deidara’s voice startled you and he noticed it because you almost flew around to glare at him. “Don’t do that, you know it’s hard to hear people sneaking up here!” 

“Duh.” Deidara said, walking onwards. You fell into step beside him. “So what’re you up to?”

“Stuff.”

“Like what stuff?” You asked, not meaning anything by your curiosity. It was more for the sake of conversation than anything else.

“Like none of your fucking business stuff…hn.” 

“Whoa, no need to bite my head off. I didn’t do anything to you.”

The blond glared, a spark of anger lighting within him. “That’s what _you_ think, HN!”

Why was he so angry with you? This wasn’t like Deidara to be so rude towards you. Usually he was teasing you as often as possible and hitting on you whenever he could. You’d become accustomed to that treatment and kind of liked it once you got past the ‘irritating’ factor. 

“But I-”

“-But you _nothing_. I don’t care what you have to say. Now leave me alone, hn!” He leapt out of sight and you blinked at the spot he had been standing, a frown creasing your brow. What had you done to cause this? You were perfectly civil to him and quite frankly it hurt for him to act like this. It was as though he was fostering newborn hatred, and wanted to keep it that way.

 _’Unless he always felt like this and was just…’_ Your feet moved on their own and you were walking, head down against the sun. Your unshielded eyes already ached in your skull from absorbing the brightness of the cloudless day.

_’…he…’_

Your eyes flickered to the side where you caught sight of a young woman being dragged away by a middle-aged man. He wasn’t even grim about it. He was gleeful with the prospect of what he could gain from her, unwilling as she is. He hadn’t gotten any in _days_. And it wasn’t such a wonder why when you stopped to look at him.

“HELP ME!” The woman shrieked, tears rushing down her face.

_’…He wanted to use me.’_

Yes. That had to be it. He was going to use you. Like that man was planning to use that girl. But when Deidara couldn’t get you into bed (not that he really asked) as easily as he would’ve liked, perhaps he lost interest in pursuing a relationship. 

The woman clung to the door frame while a fit of laughter exploded in the room beyond, all men's voices. They started cat-calling, trying to coax her into letting go, telling her that she didn’t know what she would be missing if she managed to get away…that she should stay and find out. “SOMEONE!! ANYONE!!! PLEASE, HELP ME!!!” She was a frail little thing. The only part of her that gave strength to those brittle arms was the adrenaline coursing through her veins. The sheer, unadulterated terror that thrilled through a body smaller than yours was barely enough to hang on for dear life.

 _’That little fucking prick! He thought he could manipulate me into thinking whatever he wants me to!’_

The more you thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense. It was too fake. Deidara had overreacted to the point that it didn’t seem like him when he, Konan and yourself were in your room talking about Sasori’s ideas for you. Deidara had always been around, making sure he knew where you were…he had always been able to find you when he or someone else needed you. He was so nice, yet such an asshole when he wanted to be. Flirting with you, riling you up sometimes over the silliest things. It was a setup. All a setup, all a lie which he spoon-fed you.

And you ate it up!

 _’Lesson learned.’_ You thought to yourself and endured yet another assault on the eardrums by that poor creature, whose fingers were bleeding because the doorjamb was splintery and pieces of wood bit into the scant flesh of her bony fingers. She would be attractive if she ate more. But her chances for survival were slim. She might never get the chance to put more meat on that dramatic hourglass-figure skeleton of hers.

“Come on sweetheart, I won’t be _too_ hard on ya!” The man jeered, while his buddies in the house snickered. “But I can’t say nuthin’ about my friends here...heheh...”

And that was the last straw. Right now you were in a ‘Men suck’ mood, and fully intended to make yourself feel better about Deidara’s trickery one way or another. Right now that man might as well paint a red bull's-eye on his pockmarked forehead because he was in your sights. A hand stole towards a pouch and you extracted a kunai from the contents, walking calmly towards the girl who’s hands could hold on no longer to the edge of that door. As the ugly twit tried to drag his catch in further, you grabbed his wrist and activated your strength sigil and crushed his wrist in your grip. An audible ‘crack’ was heard and his eyelids snapped back as far as they’d go, his chapped mouth spreading wide in a bellow of pain. The men in the room were laughing harder now. 

That is, until you shoved your way in the door and they caught sight of the curly red clouds bordered in white, floating against the black sky of your cloak. Now _that_ shut them up. They were more worried now. And rightfully _fucking_ so.

“Uh…m...miss?” The bastard at the door inquired nervously, gingerly cradling his wounded arm. “Wha—“ He never finished his sentence because you buried your kunai in the side of his throat, then hooked it outwards and tore the whole front and right-side of his neck wide open. He hit the floor like a sack of wet flour, his blood splattering on the splintery oak-hued door, the top tread of the stairs outside, and the threadbare lime green carpet on the floor. The harassed girl watched with huge grateful eyes that were puffy and red from crying. But you were not looking at her. Your eyes were on the four pathetic men in the spacious room beyond which was furnished with ancient furniture that had seen better days. 

“Hey! We didn’t do anything to you!” The boldest of them exclaimed. 

“Do you really think I give a fuck?” You spat, and surged across the room in one graceful motion, kunai plunging through the closest idiot’s heart. You twisted and pulled it out and by then, the most cowardly of them bolted towards the door. He grabbed the girl’s upper arm painfully and she let out a yelp. “You’re gonna pay for what you did bitch!” He snarled while hauling her towards the door, teeth bared in a yellow grimace. “Bringin’ Akatsuki down on us! YOU’LL FUCKIN’ PAY!”

But, eh, no she wouldn’t. Five senbon flew straight into him; one in each of his knees and elbows, the last in a pressure point that struck him immobile. He collapsed into the pool of his friend’s blood with a wet ‘plop’ and took the chick down with him since he was unable to let go of her now. A pathetic whimper escaped the abused girl, and she struggled to free herself from his ham-handed grip, her skinny body turning against the puddle of warm red, smearing it over her bony hips and legs without care. As long as she could pry this asshole's paws away, she didn't care how much blood got on her. 

“I hate men like you.” You growled, rounding on the last two standing. One man fumbled in his pocket and took out a five-inch switchblade, but he couldn’t flip the knife open in enough time. This was mainly because you consumed your kunai in wind chakra and in one stroke, hacked his arm off at the shoulder, a spray of crimson fanning out across the wall in the instance of the wound. With an agonized scream he jerked backwards and tripped over the worn green and gold sofa, spilling more of his life essence upon the upholstery. He landed upon his rear and then fell against his back, arrows of pain shooting from the spot were only a small stump remained of his arm. You ran your kunai through the place where the artery in his thigh resides, and blood coursed out rapidly due to an adrenaline-amped pulse. He would gush to death all over this filthy couch. There was no getting around that…especially in a place where no one gave a shit about his pathetic life.

The last one standing had grabbed his friend’s half-opened switchblade and with a practiced snap of the wrist, extended it fully. He took careful aim and flung it, but his aim was faulty. It ended up buried to its little cross-guard in the wall seventeen inches away from your head. You eyed the blade and turned to the man who was staring at it as though he had seen a ghost. That switchblade could have been the very tool that spared his life, and he literally threw it away.

“Should’ve stuck where you’re better acquainted and used a _real_ coward's weapon." You sneered, advancing towards him after wrenching the switchblade out of the wall. He backed away and felt another surface against his back. There wasn’t a way out of this except to fight, so he balled his fists and put them up, prepared to strike whenever you advanced. You smirked. Aw. How cute. He wants to play. 

“This isn’t such a bad knife.” You said, weighing it in one hand, and then flipped it so you held the tip instead of the handle. “It could be decent for precision targeting.” Upon catching the confusion in the man’s face your smirk broadened in width as well as cruelty. “Here. I'll show you how.” That said, you threw it and before he could react, and it hit exactly where you intended: right between his legs, through his 'valuables'. The wounded man shrieked so loud you winced and wondered if you'd go deaf. You came closer and yanked it out of him, only to stab him in straight into his belly-button. “GAH!” He cried out, his throat like sandpaper and his eyes watering in agony. Another stab. More pain to endure. “AHHH! STOP!”

“Why?” You shoved the blade in between two of his ribs and started to twist it, forcing one of his ribs upwards a little. He screamed again but by now you were used to it and weren’t bothered by the volume at this proximity. “If I were that girl, you wouldn’t stop if _I_ asked you to.” Another turn against the bending rib, and he whimpered. God, this was satisfying. With every sound issued, every wound inflicted and every single drop of blood spilled, you felt the burden of Deidara’s betrayal lift away ounce by ounce. You had trusted Deidara more than he knew and _now_ , upon realization of what all his past actions meant, you were grinding the trust for him you built so carelessly to dust beneath your heel. “So, tell me." You began, readjusting your grasp on the blade handle and wrenched it around once more, introducing more pressure to the rib. A pathetic whimper issued from deep within him, a feeble attempt to express all the volumes of his pain. "Why should I stop if _you_ ask me to?”

“I…I’ll pay you! The safe is in the basement!” He croaked. “Just please stop! I can’t take this anymore!” He was crying. Literally crying…not fake crocodile tears, not tears of pain. These were tears for the terrifying prospect of losing his pitiful life that he valued so much. From the doorway, the thin young lady watched with the utmost interest. She committed to memory his every tear as they fell. Ignoring her presence, you raised your eyebrows. “Pay me, hmmm? Come on then. Let’s have you open that safe for me like a good little boy.” You pulled the switchblade from him, inch by inch so he felt the slurp of his flesh and blood against the edge. If your smirk widened any more, it'd rival Kakuzu's Chelsea grin. “Now walk. And if you limp even once you can stick your head between your legs and kiss your own ass goodbye.” You paused, watching him. He wasn't moving, as the blood loss was taking its toll. He was standing in a widening puddle of it, after all, and every drop was from his multiple wounds. "And in case you don't understand, it means I will _break_ your fucking _spine_ , vertebra by vertebra, until your head reaches between your thighs and you can watch your own prick hang by a sinew while you _bleed_ to death." Your mirth had vanished for the icy, dead stare trademark to many who've murdered before. It was a common expression in this town and he knew you weren't lying when he saw it.

Knowing he had precious little time...and truly did not want to see how badly severed his own dick was, the man trembled and obeyed but with great hardship on his part. He was hurting all over and it was almost impossible to walk at all. But it’s amazing what a person can do when they believe their life depends on it. 

When he reached the stairs down to the basement you were impatient and kicked him in the small of his back so he tumbled down, ass over teakettle. But out of fear that you’d kill him for uttering a mere syllable he bit his tongue hard enough to make it sting...a triviality, compared to how the rest of him felt. You leapt down the stairs and hauled him to his feet by his greasy hair. “Come come now I haven’t got all day.” You informed him softly in a voice that glistened with malice. Shivering at that, he led you the rest of the way to the vault, which was built in to the wall; a three-by-three foot square. With shaking, blood-moistened fingers he unlocked it and swung the door open. Inside of it was a tower of neatly stacked bundles of ryou. Yes, this would be enough to pay Kakuzu back…it was wise to give him back his money with interest as he said before he decided to take more from you instead. You didn’t want to deal with the annoyance now or ever so you said, “Okay. Now take it all out for me and set it down on the table over there.” You pointed across the room and he swallowed a new whimper. He was in so much pain as it is and he was at the end of his rope. His blood tracked with him all across the house, stairs, basement...how much more could he bleed before he was dry?

“But I…I can’t…” 

“Why?”

“Because I won’t be able to make it.” He answered wearily and truthfully. There was no point in lying and possibly making you angry enough to torture him further for it. You inclined your chin, and nodded once. “Then you have exceeded your usefulness.” No sooner said than done, you slammed the switchblade through the middle of his forehead and let him drop with a heavy thud, then set about extracting money from the safe. Once you found a bag to put it all in you made to exit the house, flicking a poisoned senbon into paralyzed survivor’s neck on the way by. The girl was still there, and had resumed peeling her captor’s stiff fingers away from her arm. She watched you with oddly calm eyes for having witnessed such brutality. You'd been seen going into this vile den of scoundrels, and out of everyone inside, you permitted her _alone_ to live. News travels fast enough where this incident would ensure her survival for awhile.

“Go home.” You told her. 

“Thank you for saving me.” She responded softly. Her voice may have once been beautiful...its cracked yet melodious tranquility reminded you of a murmuring brook. 

Nevertheless, your hardened gaze didn't soften for her. “It wasn't for you. It was for me. I don’t give a fuck if you live or die.” Whether the girl was polite because she witnessed the ferocity you're capable of, or due to real gratitude was irrelevant. “And still, I thank you.” She repeated, finally getting the dead man’s hand off her newly bruised arm and arose shakily to her feet. You brushed by her in response, cloak whispering in your wake while you avoided the pools of blood. There's no need to leave footprints wherever you step. 

Now that you felt more at peace, it was time to find Kakuzu.  
But on this day, something within you snapped, and wouldn't be repaired in a hurry.


	19. Taking Shots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruffians from Pein and Konan's past resurface, and you step up to deal with them on your sensei's behalf. But when your blood runs hot, you go out for a walk and wind up with an unlikely drinking partner and another scrape with intimacy.

Taking Shots

 

_Konoha; Hokage’s Office…_

“And you are quite certain that you searched the compound thoroughly?” The Fifth’s voice shredded menacingly through the trembling silence in the spacious office. Standing before her desk was the ANBU squad sent by Shizune to the Grass Country. They had already reported to Shizune. But the woman thought that their report should be spoken to the Hokage’s face as well. So she could believe Shizune when she told her everything else that she discovered. It wasn't ordinary for Tsunade to recieve a verbal report from each mission; she'd get nothing else done if she did. But in this situation, she wanted to be constantly informed. It was no ordinary issue and deserved more than her ordinary attention.

“Yes Lady Hokage. We did.” The ANBU Leader responded. 

“And you are positive that the Grass had no idea you were there?” Tsunade pressed heatedly. 

“I am sure.” He answered.

“This only confirms my suspicions, Lady Tsunade." Shizune put in meekly, clutching the edge of a plump old manila folder between both hands. “Akatsuki must have known that we would try to seek anything out about Gyaku Saiya. So they removed any pertinent info they could find. As reported, it seemed as though another party tossed her room before we did.”

“We have no proof of that Lady Hokage.” The ANBU Leader added quickly after Shizune. “It could have been anyone at all, perhaps Gyaku herself.”

“That’s true.” Tsunade assented, rubbing the bridge of her nose; damned sinus pressure. It was that time of year where allergies abound. Or was it the mounting tension from this damnable case? “Did you say you discovered something else Shizune?”

“There appears to be a group under Gyaku’s command; they made their base of operations out of a wine cellar a few miles outside of the Gyaku Compound. We have detained everyone found there.” Shizune said. “Also there is some incomplete intel in regards to Gyaku’s past that I recently obtained.” She paused and waited for Tsunade to give her the go-ahead. When the Hokage is as tense as she is now it is wise to tread lightly and let her control every last little thing…lest she snaps on everyone. The results have been disastrous over lesser issues.

“Go on.”

Shizune appeared relieved and rambled onward. “After the Sound Country was assaulted by Akatsuki I had a rescue squad sent there to see if there were any survivors. Amongst the wreckage of what may have been Orochimaru’s office, a set of folders were left on his desk. One of these contained information pertaining to an abandoned spy mission directed towards the Grass Country.”

Seeing where this was probably going, Tsunade interrupted, “Was Orochimaru interested in Gyaku as well?”

“That’s what it looks like, but for reasons unexplained. Amongst the details was a packet of photos. I believe that you will find a few in particular extremely interesting…and so would Jiraiya-sama.” She moved foreword and set the worn manila folder down before the Slug Princess. Tsunade pulled it towards her and flipped it over with a quirked eyebrow at the way Shizune put it. Jiraiya would be interested in this? Somehow she doubted that, unless it involved naked women; and it didn’t seem like that would be the case when she saw the marking on the other side of the folder. There was a huge red stamp on it: ‘CONFIDENTIAL’ and on the folder tab was written the name, ‘GYAKU, SAIYA’ in a barely legible heavy black scrawl. 

“However that was not all that was in the folder. I only got to read through what was on top.” Shizune told Tsunade. Her face was arranged into a disturbed expression that Tsunade caught easily and immediately wondered what was in this folder that might unsettle Shizune. 

“Orochimaru did our work for us.” Tsunade mused aloud, opening the folder and frowning slightly at the large yellow envelope that sat on top, thin metal prongs pressed down on each side of the hole in the partially torn flap being the only thing that kept it shut. 

“It would appear so.” 

“Did you say you looked through all of this Shizune?” Tsunade asked.

“No Lady Tsunade, I only-“

 _”—Did you say you looked through all of it, Shizune?”_ Tsunade reiterated threateningly, and immediately Shizune caught her drift and snatched up the folder in a hurry. “No Lady Tsunade! I’m so sorry!”

Tsunade sighed and leaned back in her chair, relieved. She had so much on her plate that it would be way too cumbersome a workload for her to handle in one week if she took the time aside to look through that formidably thick folder. Hell, she had a hard enough time with maintaining the motivation to touch her usual stacks of paperwork. “If that is all then everyone is dismissed.”

They all exited the room and Shizune headed to the room that she utilized as an office of her own. It was small by comparison to Tsunade’s grand office. Shizune didn’t require a lot of space. Usually she was running errands for Tsunade amongst other things.

She began leafing through the folder while wondering about what other scary pieces of information she’d get from this. The more she read, the more uneasy she became. While raking some black strays back from her face Shizune flipped a piece of paper over with her other hand and her eyes fell on a luridly orange sticky note on a piece of paper written by the same unruly hand as was seen on the file tab. It read;

**Kabuto- I have finished at last. This is to be placed on Lord Orochimaru's desk by the 23rd. I apologize for the delay.**

The initials following the short note were too messy to decipher. They had written with a heavy black ink that dribbled in their haste. Tiny dots spotted the yellow cardstock document the note was stuck to and larger blots were smeared across the bottom of the sticky note as well in a past attempt to wipe them off. Whoever this was had been in such a hurry they couldn’t be bothered to write a new one. 

Shizune re-read the note twice more before she could consider it, then turned in her seat to eyeball the calendar on the wall. Next she opened the bottom-left drawer of her desk and rummaged through it. In this drawer was all the reports that she had made copies of for the purpose of her own mission.  
Upon finding the report filed by Yamato, Sakura, Naruto and Sai after Orochimaru’s death, she pulled it out of the drawer and nearly ripped it open. It had been filed on the day they returned; the 25th. Her black eyes roamed towards the sticky note once more, thoughtfully. 

_’…by the 23rd…’_

Her gaze hit the wall directly across from her desk and she was out of her chair in an instant, heading right on over to that wall where a huge map was tacked neatly there. She put the tip of one thin finger to the symbol of the Grass emblazoned upon one region of the map, then with her opposing index finger drew a line from the jagged Grass emblem to the music note that was marked into the Sound Nation region. Her eyes slid downwards to the ruler across the bottom edge of the map, reading the conversion of real distance to the smaller scale. This person, whoever they were, could have arrived in time, but there was no real way to know. In the note, they apologized for the delay. That means they could've been on a tentative deadline. 

At last the tension in Shizune’s wrists slackened and her hands lowered to her sides, sculpted eyebrows twitching downwards in the slightest. Orochimaru had designs on this woman, but why? How much did he know? Or better yet, what _didn't_ he know, where he had to send a henchman to scavenge for information? Still, biting her lip, Shizune had to wonder.

_’Did he die before he saw this?’_

 

_With You…_

 

Finding Kakuzu was much like attempting to sort a needle out of a haystack. This city was massive and you’d wasted hours already trying to find him so you gave up and shouldered the bag you had been carrying loosely in hand. The sun was lowering in the sky but it wasn't quite sunset. There was awhile yet before you had to negotiate your way through the streets to the Arena, which was a hulking outline of monolithic proportions on the skyline at present...it could be one of the foothills of those muscular mountains if one was badly nearsighted. Thankfully, you aren't.

Once you were able to set your harsh thoughts about Deidara aside long enough you noticed how hungry you were and began peering through the bazaar you were trekking through for a place to eat. You saw a teahouse but dismissed it because you wanted food that would stick to your ribs. With a small fortune in a bag over your shoulder you could afford food at any expense out of what you deemed to be your own hard-earned share of the plunder. 

“EEE!” You yelped as a strong and much unexpected hand grabbed your forearm and dragged you in past the lavender flaps of fabric that hung down in front of the aforementioned teahouse. Your purple eyes seared towards the offender and instead found two familiar faces, both of which were quite amused at your girly reaction.

“Blue-kun? Itachi?” You squeaked, appalled. 

“Sit down.” Itachi half-invited, half-ordered. You did so and put your bag o’ ryou down next to you. 

“Hello to you too.” Kisame teased. A young lady came scurrying over and set down a fresh plate of sweet dumplings and a pot of tea once she saw you come in. Kisame glanced her way once her back was turned.

“We saw what happened earlier.” Itachi began coyly, taking up a skewer of multicolored-pastel dumplings and biting into one of them. There was something off about his demeanor. Something that wasn’t normal of him and you couldn’t place your finger on it. 

“So?” You grumbled. Now your posture sang a different tune because you relaxed and became somewhat irate all at once. “I had to blow off some steam.”

“You know that you killed off one of the biggest drug lords in this place right?” Kisame asked offhandedly, pouring some tea for himself. You picked up a stick laden with the sweet dough and pulled the empty plate the waitress set down for you closer. “I figured they were up to something. They lived in a shitty house and had plenty of money squirreled away in the basement.”

“Is that what's in the bag?” Itachi asked.

“Yep. I’m going to pay Kakuzu back with interest before he decides to take it out of my hide.” You answered with a funny little grin, and then pulled a whole dumpling off the skewer with your teeth. Dessert first apparently. Whatever, it was not a big deal. At this point you were too hungry to be picky.

“Since when did you turn into an honest thief?” Kisame chuckled. You swallowed your mouthful and sneered. “I don’t want the irritation is all.”

“Suuuuure.”

“Are you giving it all to him?” Itachi, yet again with the questions.

“No Father.” You snipped. “What’s it to you?”

“Nothing except you can treat us.” Kisame said. You sighed. “Fine whatever. I only have to get a katana and some supplies; it won’t take all of this cash up…hey.” You gave each of them a suspicious glance. “Why are you wanting to pay when we could just walk out because we’re next to the door?”

“The waitress is cute.”

“I’ll pretend that’s a good enough excuse.”

“I am guessing that you have never shopped for a weapon before, Saiya.” Itachi commented. “Have you?”

“Only for senbon and those things, but not for a sword. My wakizashi broke when I fought those people from Konoha so Leader…ah…” You corrected yourself. “…Pein-sensei told me to get a katana while I’m here.” 

Kisame whistled. “Sensei, huh?”

“I don’t even know what to call him now. How’s this grab ya…’Lord-Leader-Pein-sensei-sama-dono…’” You paused then added, “…-kun?”

“Somehow I think he won’t go for that.” Kisame remarked, laughing a bit. Itachi nearly rolled his eyes and wolfed down another dumpling and closed his eyes briefly, his unused hand blindly finding his teacup without spilling it. Whenever Itachi closed his eyes like that you interpreted it as a quiet ‘Yes’ or, ‘Whatever’ or sometimes, depending on the situation; ‘Do what you want, I do not give a flying fuck.’ His consent to _anything_ was largely unspoken and tacit ever since you met the guy.

“I guess I’ll settle for referring to him as I did when I was a young punk.” You shrugged. “It’s been awhile though.”

“It’s hard to believe that the Leader took a student.” Kisame thought aloud. “But then again, when I think of what you specialize in, I’m somehow not surprised.”

“I was curious when he would look for a Medic for the team.” Itachi said boredly. “It would seem that he aims to turn you into a jack of all trades.”

“Noooo nooo noooooo, that’s too insane for me. I won’t be able to take _anything_ he throws at me, let’s be realistic here!” You protested while pouring some tea for yourself. “I’m having a hard time keeping up with what I have. And now he wants me to learn how to fight with a sword. Is there no end to his demands?”

“Probably not.” Kisame and Itachi answered in tandem and then looked at each other weirdly.

“Whoa. I got that one in stereo. It’s unanimous then!” You dug into your dumplings hungrily. That was enough babble for you. You stomach was crying.

“I need to get Samehada repaired.” Kisame mentioned. “And Itachi mentioned needing a new katana, y'know, because his sucks. Why don't you tag along?”

You bobbed your head in agreement and gulped down some hot tea thirstily. Itachi glanced at Kisame when he said that, ‘his katana sucks’, because he distinctly remembered mentioning it differently to him, but that wasn’t a big deal. The one he owned was from his ANBU days. It was a ‘standard issue’ katana and the ones they had around the Uchiha Compound hadn’t been any better. But here…in Anarchy, you could find nothing but the best if you knew where to go.

After finishing up with dumplings and tea for three, you set down a ridiculously large tip (you said you didn't want to wait for the waitress; her breasts were large enough to have their own gravitational pull) and left, your big bag of cash shouldered. As it had been once before on a mission, you and Kisame flanked Itachi; you on his left, Kisame on his right…this wasn’t something actively considered, rather, an action that fell into place. And Itachi was perfectly at peace with this, being as highly respected and feared by a sizeable percentage of the world as he is; he was accustomed to being regarded as a leader. The odd part about this was that you didn’t even notice you were doing it. It felt like such a tiny and natural thing to do. Itachi was the one and only person who remained above you other than Pein. Everyone else somehow got dragged down to ‘your level’ or below it, no matter how high and mighty they acted.

Since the dumplings didn’t sustain you and unlike Kisame and Itachi you hadn’t eaten a meal before having them, you grabbed what resembled a king-sized steamed bun from a stand on the way, and also a pomegranate from the farmer’s market that the group cut through. Except the vendor never noticed that the piece of fruit went missing since you lifted it in passing.

After eating the bun (which was actually, you noted, almost better than your own), you took out your last clean kunai and began to whittle around the equator of the fruit, careful to only score the outer layer so you didn’t break open any of the arils within it. Itachi and Kisame had never seen a pomegranate before and wondered what the hell you were doing with such a peculiar object…though they weren’t particularly stupid, it wasn’t exactly a food item that one sees every day. “It’s a pomegranate. You guys can try some if you want. I don't get them often, they're seldom imported from overseas.” You put your kunai away and popped the halves apart, revealing what appeared to them as tiny red rubies clustered together between sheaves of a waxy white plant matter. “I haven’t had these since I was a kid.”

You offered a half to Itachi and Kisame. “Here, try it. Don’t eat the white parts.”

Itachi was apprehensive about it but tried a few of the handsomely red arils and nodded. “Not bad.”

Kisame tried it as well and shrugged. “They’re okay. I don't like the seeds."

You grinned. “Pomegranates alone are kind of an acquired taste. But they’re really good for you. Most people can't eat them or drink their juice without a lot of sugar.” Then you continued eating your half. Kisame didn’t want anymore but Itachi had the rest of the half you gave them. You were having fun eating yours, tossing the red arils up into the air and catching them in your mouth, not missing a one. That is, until, you three came upon the destination Itachi and Kisame were aiming for; a place well off the beaten path. It used to be a farmer’s home but not any longer; the acres stretching out from all directions were not tilled or sown. Instead the land beyond contained two large barns and farmhouse, and further beyond was nothing but tall grass up to groves of trees at the base of the nearest mountain. There was orange firelight pouring out from the closest of the barns and the sound of someone hammering metal. A shape came hurtling out of the front door of the house and landed before anyone could advance further. It was a young man, armed with a plain and unpolished bastard sword. His face was streaked with coal-dust and sweat and he wore a plain white t-shirt over a pair of battered, shredded, winter sky-blue jeans…his clothing was heavily stained by coal dust soaked into the fabric by moisture, making for a grimy appearance. Staring at you through a thicket of spiky cobalt blue bangs with the widest golden-brown eyes you’d seen on a guy, he wasn’t exactly what you’d consider ‘intimidating’. 

Kisame snorted at the kid’s appearance and turned his head away while you bit your tongue, maintained a straight and emotionless mask, and considered the situation…both of you opting to let Itachi do all the talking. The brat was most likely protecting the property from bandits, of which there was no shortage in a city like this. For him to readily take up arms against three people wearing the crimson and black of Akatsuki showed that he had courage, but guts alone aren’t enough in a fight against people whom are ranked amongst the most deadly in the whole wide world. 

Itachi’s black eyes flickered towards the house and you followed his gaze in enough time to see a young woman drying shotglasses with a towel that undoubtedly had been red when it was new, but was now faded pink from overuse. She was clean, unlike the young man confronting the three of you, but she resembled him closely. Her hair was powder blue with white streaks and her eyes were the same as his, but she also looked to be his age. They must be related.

“We are here on business.” Itachi informed the boy, who relaxed considerably. He lowered his sword and jerked his head towards the nearest barn. “If it’s armor y’r needin’, me Da’s unavailable.” 

“Weapons, not armor.” Itachi said, his tone clipped, cool, and businesslike like never before.

“We have no use for armor.” You chimed in, unable to keep quiet. By now you had taken your cloak off and slung it over the messenger bag you took with you, and re-shouldered the satchel of ryou. “No worries kiddo, we’ll pay.” At the look on his face Kisame laughed.

After a moment of consideration, it dawned on him. He motioned towards Itachi and Kisame. “I know who yeh two are, but she-“ He looked at you and you looked back blankly. “-she ain’t in wit’ alla yeh’.” This kid had an accent you couldn’t quite place. It wasn’t as though he slurred his words, for you understood him perfectly. He merely sounded foreign. Maybe his family came from overseas, too. Like the pomegranates. You never bothered learning anything about other parts of the world, aside from those that were of immediate concern. 

“Actually she is.” Itachi was a bit irked at all this dawdling. It took too much time as it is to get here but now sunset was so close that there was no space to screw around between now and then. And when it comes to doing something Leader orders you to do…such as meeting him somewhere…you _aren’t late._ One makes sure of it that one is there _early_ or on time because if one doesn’t one will regret it.

As he was about to open his mouth, the door of the farmhouse swung open and the pale young lady stepped out and shouted across to him. “Hey! You stop givin’ em' a hard time and bring em’ in the forge already, you useless lump!” He blanched and motioned with his head to follow him into the barn. When you entered, you didn’t know what to expect…but it certainly wasn’t a middle-aged amazon of a woman. It was bad enough that everyone in Akatsuki made you feel short; but now you felt miniscule near this lady who was just over seven feet tall.

You’d hate to see her husband if they were from the same place, wherever that was. He was probably even bigger!

“Customers.” The kid said and then left. 

It turned out that the children didn’t inherit her coloring; this woman had cherry red hair bound in a braid all the way down to mid-calf, and grayish-green eyes. Unlike her son she wasn’t smeared with dust from the forge all over her face, and you could see a smattering of dim brown freckles across her fair-skinned face and arms. 

“I wondered when you lot would turn up.” She said with a cynical twist of the lips, then set her large hammer down. “What is it that you want?”

Apparently they didn’t get the accent from her either.

Itachi said nothing and unsheathed his katana then flipped it over and caught the blade, offering the handle to her. She took it and inspected it while Kisame took Samehada off of his back. You stood there and did nothing. 

The woman scoffed. “And this is the standard now?” She rumbled disdainfully. “Pathetic. I have something better. And you?” She rounded on Kisame who held up the Samehada. “Some repairs on the handle.” An adversary once tried to sever the blade from the handle so that Kisame wouldn’t be able to use the sword. It was a good concept but a foolhardy one to attempt. They were met with both failure and death.

She nodded and went across the barn to a place were numerous finished blades were glistening in the orange firelight. “And you, runt?” She barked over her shoulder at you. 

“I ah…I need a katana.” You said, trying not to be intimidated by this well-built lady’s height. Normally tall people only depressed you or didn’t bother you at all, but this woman was _abnormally_ tall. 

She looked over her shoulder at you for a long second and then nodded. “Come here.” 

All three of you did so and she had Itachi pick a katana he liked. The handle was very nicely wrapped, and the hand guard as well as the blade were handsomely engraved. The sheath was downright beautiful and moderately intricate. She said that this blade took awhile for her to make, and the metal had been folded so many times she lost count. It was a finely made weapon, very powerful and extremely sharp, as well as being a bit longer than normal. But he would be easily able to handle that.

She repaired Samehada's minor 'injury' with quick, deft hands...seemingly, in minutes, and then turned to you. You blinked at her. “I don’t know the first thing about this stuff.” You admitted. “Ah. I wondered why you did not pick one out yet.”

So the beastly woman considered at you for a minute, as though figuring you out, then disappeared behind a rack and came back out, holding an unfinished katana in hand. It was black metal. It wasn’t polished yet, and the sheath was half finished.

“This one is the right size for you. Come by tomorrow morning and it’ll be finished.” She said. 

You agreed and picked up a wakizashi that was about as moderately ornate and functional as Itachi’s new blade. Who or whatever this woman was, she's an artist at the forge. “I’ll take this also."

She nodded and when Itachi and Kisame went to pull money out to pay, you barged in front of them and paid instead. “Save it.” You snapped at them. “I told you earlier I’d pick up the tab.”

“That was for-“ Itachi began, but he trailed off because the enormous woman accepted the money with a smirk. “My kinda girl.” She refused some of it, however. “Pay for the katana when you see it.” You nodded and slid you new sheathed wakizashi in between three of the four belts slung low across your hips, then hung the considerably lightened bag of ryou over your shoulder once again. “Thanks!”

“No. Thank _you_.” She responded and then turned to Itachi and Kisame. “You take care of those swords. And you take care of her too, you hear?” She growled, jerking a thumb in your direction. You were on your way out and her eyes fell on the Gyaku symbol on the back of your shirt.

Kisame shook his head a little, amused. “Yeah, yeah.” As you were leaving, the woman called out. “Hey shrimp!”

You turned around, wrinkling your nose. This initiated a peculiarly friendly shouting match. “WHAT?”

“What’s that on your back?!”

“Clan symbol!”

“What’s your name?!” She bellowed.

“Gyaku Saiya! And who the hell are you?!"

“Call me Kalahn!” 

“Okay! See you in the morning!”

“Yeah BYE, shrimp!”

Itachi grunted. “We will be late. Come.” He flitted off, followed closely by Kisame and yourself. Kalahn and her alleged children watched after your retreating backs, silently marveling at the breakneck speed shinobi like yourselves are capable of. 

Now bounding from rooftop to rooftop, some more attention than usual was attracted. Usually people didn’t travel by roof around here, mainly because of how some of them were undoubtedly in disrepair. But in this case it was imperative that you guys had nothing obstructing your path, because if Pein was left holding the bag things would get ugly really fast. He liked to utilize his time as thoroughly as possible and though he wasn’t anything like Sasori when it came to the hatred of wasting his own time and that of others, he did think that people should have the respect and decency to appear before him as asked…especially when it came to things that could be weighed as rather important; in which case it was more of a, ‘HOW DARE YOU NOT SHOW UP WHEN I COMMANDED YOU TO?!’-thing. Pein was an unnerving man on a normal day. But when you crossed that line and displayed irresponsibility when it came to following orders, that disquieting aura he exuded intensified a thousand fold. He is someone that, even if a person had no idea who he is…you _don’t_ cross him. Usually. If you aren't suicidal.

“We’re probably gonna be late and you’re not even worried, Saiya?” Kisame asked gruffly, his mind on the last day that they were late…the last and only. But that might not be as of this evening. 

“You forget that I grew up dealing with him. I’m used to Pein-sensei so he doesn’t get to me anymore.” You answered mildly, bouncing off a roof and landing on another, running the length of it with the other two then jumped up onto a higher rooftop after them.

“Didn’t you forget for awhile there?”  
You were thoughtful about this once Kisame asked. Indeed you had forgotten, but it was more like induced amnesia. Pein made you forget about it all but _why_ exactly you weren’t sure. For that matter there could’ve been a traumatic incident afterwards and it wasn’t his fault after all, since you really had no idea what happened and for what reason. There were too many ‘what if’ scenarios.

“Yeah. I don’t know why. But knowing Pein-sensei it was for a reason. Even if he made me forget for the longest time, from the day you guys recruited me he didn’t exactly feel like a threat. I guess that’s one of the things that carried over from the path.”

“Enough talk.” Itachi intervened, bounding off the last roof and landing in the street. Kisame and you followed suit and moved swiftly after the Uchiha, whom was weaving through the wide street clotted with gaggles of men and women, most of them being normal people. The buildings were too few and far between flanking the street, thinning out to nothing as it led up to the gargantuan silhouette of the arena. People moved hurriedly out of your way upon seeing those iconic cloaks. Many of those same people then started talking quietly and openly about Akatsuki and the countless rumors amassed around the criminal organization. These words all together carried but a single note: fear. And that was one tune you liked hearing.

Once the three of you arrived in front of the arena you saw that you were either too early or rather late; no one was there.

“We’re probably late.” Kisame grunted.

“Nah. We’re early.” You brushed your brother’s worry off with ease, sidling up next to him and glancing around. “Pein-sensei would’ve hung back to talk to us if we were.”

Itachi leaned against the side of a statue of some tall and stern armor-clad samurai-looking warrior sitting astride a snarling winged dragon. Its gray edifice dwarfed the Uchiha and made him seem a good deal shorter than usual. “We are on time.” He said quietly, closing his eyes and crossing his arms. 

“He probably would've laughed at us for running all the way here.” You mumbled. “So I guess its better that he isn’t here to narrow his gray bull’s-eyes smugly at us from the shadows where we can see nothing else of him...per usual.” 

“I don’t think that-“ Kisame stopped talking, seeing Kakuzu and Hidan approach. You hefted the bag of ryou off your shoulder and said, “Kakuzu take this from me before I throw it in the bay. I been carrying it all damn afternoon!”

“What is it?” He inquired shrewdly. 

“Payback.” You held the bag out to him and he accepted it suspiciously. “I stole your wallet remember?”

“Damn his wallet wasn’t _that_ fucking big.” Hidan said, staring at it.

“There was more but I spent some of it. Be happy you got that much…Lime-kun.” 

“’Lime’?” Kakuzu asked irritably.

“Sour and green. How appropriate.” Another voice supplied, Konan’s voice to be exact. She was grinning broadly. “It is _not_ a compliment Kakuzu.”

You smiled approvingly at her and caught sight of Pein whom she was walking fifteen paces ahead of. He appeared profoundly irritated towards something or someone that wasn’t within eyeshot and every so often aimed a comment over his shoulder. He halted and turned on his heel to focus the whole of his attention upon the person (or thing).

“Konan what’s going on?” You asked, leaning around her to try and catch sight of whatever it was that had your teacher and leader so bothered. She looked uncomfortable then placed a hand on your shoulder, steering you in Pein’s direction. “Go see for yourself.” She said in a low voice by your ear, so others couldn’t hear over the general ruckus of the thickening crowd about the arena campus and road. “I think he might need your help. An old…’acquaintance’…has been heckling him about how he’ll go to the grave without a student to continue onwards down his ninja path. As you know by now, that is a statement shinobi anywhere near Pein’s status don't take kindly to.”

“Oh you mean like how Pinky is going down Slug-Queen’s path?” You inquired. “Okay well help me for a minute, here. I mean I’m a medic and he _isn’t_ but he taught me-“

“-too much for you to say that you don’t follow his path.” Konan interrupted pointedly. “You have usage of all the elements like he does and from what I’ve seen you have ‘inherited’ his ease with a blade. He’s going to teach you more. Just go with it before he explodes will you? Meet the rest of us inside!” She nudged you foreword and turned to herd the others inside, all of whom had arrived and were talking amongst themselves, reminiscing what happened at the last tournament they had attended. Mainly they were amused about it; afterwards Pein tested them out at the Akatsuki lair anyway because they got through the games _too_ easily. Konan shepherded them inside (by pulling rank on them) and you were left behind. Kisame shot a glance over his shoulder at you, wondering why you were not coming, but he didn’t ask and resumed his muted conversation with Itachi.

Swallowing down a lump of apprehension in your throat you relaxed your face into one that was as emotionless as possible and forced the tension to bleed from your limbs by telling yourself that this was just another mission. This made it easier. Act as though it’s strictly business, not personal to this man who revealed himself to be the more valuable one out of your teachers.

Except when you appeared at Pein’s left side he looked you in the eye immediately, not having expected anyone to barge in on this conversation. When you made eye contact with him you realized right away that there was no way to pretend that this was ‘strictly business’. All you saw in the pits of his pupils was seething hate, masked by layer after circular layer of silvery…indifference? Is that what it was? There were but two people in the whole wide world that you had a bear of a time trying to read. One of them was Pein, whom taught you how to read people like a scroll while preventing them from doing the same with you. 

“And who is this? He’s a bit old for you ain’t he, sweet thing?” A heftily-proportioned monster of a man rumbled, laughing, directing his attention towards you. He had three young men standing in a line behind them, each of them standing as rigid and still as though they were from the military, but clearly all were shinobi. They each wore a hitai-ate that marked them as coming from the Hidden Rain village. “Don’t’cha know girly? He could be your father!”

Pein’s gaze swiveled back to the huge man backed by the three strapping young lads behind him. “Stifle yourself.” Pein said with all the bitterness possible. 

“What is he rambling about, Pein-sensei?” You inquired mildly, as if thoroughly unaffected.

Such a small sentence, yet the impact was impressive. Big Boy was affronted and stunned, rocking back as though he had been sucker-punched directly between the eyes. His lion-like gold eyes darted from you to Pein, back and forth again and again. “’Sensei’?” He echoed uneasily, rubbing a ham-sized wrist absentmindedly. You noticed that it was wrapped in a dirty bloodstained bandage. 

“Hey that can’t be right.” One of the young men piped up from behind…which one, you didn’t notice or care to know. “I know you chicky. You’re Gyaku Saiya…a medic!”

“Yes. What of it?”

“ _He_ isn’t a medic.” The guy whom you weren’t troubling to look at answered, pure nastiness contorting his voice. “This is bullshit!”

“I don’t owe you any explanations.” You stated boredly. The details were not required, though you had to stop yourself from adding that Pein taught you the Mystic Hand technique, and you took off with it. 

“Pein-sensei, aren’t you going inside with us?” You asked, turning fully towards him and completely disregarding the others. Pein opened his mouth to speak but Big Boy interrupted. “Don’t ignore us you little twat!”

But it was your turn to be headed off at the pass...because for Pein, that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. He was angry. He had been so since before you got here. He had known this man since he was younger and forever he had bested him until he grew up…this guy was a remnant from his past that he never cared to bother with ever again, but now he understood that this past relic wasn’t finished with him. He would’ve left the man alone if he let him be in turn only because he had been strong enough to survive the brutal warlike past and lately he was related to Akatsuki by extension as someone’s subordinate who raked in loads of money, whether he realized he was assisting a criminal organization or not. For these reasons Pein would leave the bastard alone, hoping someday to get a good laugh out of it when the idiot found out that he was helping bring about a new world order his beliefs wouldn't allow him to approve of. He always was straight laced and anti-war when it came to those things, and Pein's methods were unordinary. It would be enough for Pein if this idiot discovered these truths.

Except now he was going too far; heckling him about how he was going to die without a legacy; and then insulting _you_ , the one whom…whether or not he wanted to admit it…were the only person other than Konan whom he cared for even remotely and indeed, are his student and the one sharing a portion of his views. Pein had known you while you were growing up. Later in life you were found again, now matured, and healed his eyes. He would be able to go on and not worry that his own kekkei-genkai would rot away in his own skull, slowly rendering him blind and useless with the ages.  
This big old guy from his past was insulting you as though a student was instead a cheap slut whose carnal sin was covered only by the noble Akatsuki mantle….it was the last thing that set Pein’s anger alight. It had remained as a mountain of dry gunpowder in a windy fire lit room for the longest time. Now that cave in the corner of his mind that he had lumped all his fury into was exploding and bursting through the mental stone walls.

“That is enough!” Pein snapped, eyes narrowing dangerously. 

“Sensei?” You asked confusedly, masking how the man's baseless insults were creeping up on your temper. Today was not a good day to suffer fools. Pein didn’t look at you though. His evil ringed eyes burned into the lion-like ones across from him. 

“Instead of slinging words, how about metal instead?” You offered. 

“You’re a medic. Shut the hell up.” One of Big Guy’s students ordered. Pein hesitated on whatever it was he planned on saying, and shoved the thought aside for a new one. “Then you will have nothing to fear…if all four of you fight Saiya only.”

Your jaw should’ve hit the floor, by all means. But you remained calm in this situation. All you kept telling yourself was; _’Itachi. Think ‘Itachi’._ _He_ _has the warmth and emotional range of an ice cube! Fuck! What happened to me, this kind of stuff never_ _used_ _to be a problem…’_

“Afraid to fight me?” Big Guy asked, radiating smugness. 

“Not at all. I will fight you and your students if you win.” Pein responded smoothly, disturbing the hell out of you that he was able to regain his calm so fluidly after an open display of emotion. “I merely wonder if all four of you can survive against my one student for three minutes.”

“That’s-! You-! How dare you!” One of the young men sputtered.  
“How rude!” Another objected.  
“What the hell is this!? That’s no way to continue your legacy!” The third snarled mockingly, clinging to their teacher’s previous point. “A medic! Come on what the hell she doesn’t—“

“That’s quite enough.” Their beastly sensei cut across them all effortlessly. “Very well. We accept the challenge. Shall we go into the Arena then?”

“I will lead the way myself.” Pein said, turning and heading towards the arena calmly. You walked three paces behind him, wanting to maintain the proper impression of a student that does not consider herself equal or superior to her sensei. 

On the way through, the unlikely group passed by the others, whom were clustered in the lobby muttering about something incomprehensible. Konan was having an inordinately hard time keeping the guys in line considering that they were all pumped and ready to go…even if the games didn’t start today. Conversation ceased to watch the six of you walk by without a word. You and Pein were not at all bothered by the presence of the other Akatsuki (which is to be expected), but the other four were greatly disturbed. Seeing a mass of black splotched with curly red clouds ordinarily isn’t a comforting sight these days. Add to this the other things that made the appearance of an Akatsuki extra ferocious such as each person’s weapon of choice or their appearance (as in Zetsu and Kisame’s case), and you have yourself a pack of wolves stalking amongst the masses of sheeplike people whom are primarily defenseless by comparison.

It was as though someone turned the lights on in Big Guy’s head. It dawned upon him that they were facing the prospect of fighting not only one, but two members of the most feared organization in the world. He comforted himself by thinking that you only got into Akatsuki because your sensei is the Leader.

But shit. There was one piece of it that he couldn’t get around no matter how hard he wished he could; Pein is Akatsuki’s _Leader_. Whether or not his position was earned or only forked over to him would be determined. But if they could win, they'd achieve a status of legendary proportions prior to the games.

That is to say _if_ they could get through you first. And since you’re a medic you were at a tremendous advantage already. Judging from their previous words and reactions you figured that the Big Ole’ Dumbass over there and his three stooges were going under the assumption that you were no warrior. They had taken too many presuppositions into account for it to be healthy. With how much they openly assumed already; you'd get to figure them out a bit quicker since they were more apt to act brash in a situation like this. 

No matter. They were a bunch of blowhards from the looks of them.

The engraved metal doors into the arena battleground blew open with a resounding ‘BANG!’ before Pein reached them by a short blast of invisible chakra he generated. “Since the tournament is not yet in effect there will be no rules to follow here. No one is watching.” Pein informed the group. “Be as free with your abilities as you like.” Pein made eye contact with you for a moment and said, “The victor must walk back out of here under their own power.”

“AHAHAH! YOU IDIOT!” One of the young men bellowed. 

“No, it’s good this way. He can pay for his folly by losing his poisonous little cunt of a student.” The unnamed Big Guy jeered. Pein’s eyes lingered upon yours, conveying orders without a spoken word. He turned away at last and walked from the field, heading back down the shadowy depths of the corridor to the lobby.

Don’t hold back, was what the expression in Pein’s eyes told you. Give to them nothing…but strip from them _everything._ Torture them. Slaughter them.  
 _Leave nothing left for the trip to Hell._

While not displaying your own thoughts, you were astonished that Pein didn’t leap at them himself for all that you caught in his ringed eyes. But then, you reflected, that if he _had_ …nothing would be left of this arena by the time he was done with them, so tremendous and destructive was his unleashed fury. You knew this because you had seen anger in him like it before. Once. And you were the sole survivor. More memories were flowing easily back within your grasp. More thoughts of the past triggered by current events returned. You didn’t remember everything yet. Maybe you never would.

“So,” Big Guy began, advancing towards you. “Hookers first.”

“’Hooker’?” You echoed in frigid disdain, clenching your fists in the shadows of your voluminous sleeves. 

“Glad you agree!” 

You had been calm for awhile. But now your facial expression arranged into a feral one. “I do agree. As you said; hookers first.” And waited.

“Tch, I’mma sit this one out.” The shortest of his students grunted. “I don’t fight little girls.”

“Neither do I.” You drawled. It was enough to make him throw himself at you, which you sidestepped smoothly and drew your new wakizashi out to catch the slender blade of a katana, turned it aside, and thrust the heel of your hand against the tip of the offender’s slightly upturned nose. Dark blood poured out of his flaring nostrils and he staggered back, holding his sword between his side and his elbow as he craned his neck and clutched gingerly at his face. 

From behind you heard the pitter-patter of running footsteps followed by the noise of a person dropping downwards onto one foot. The one behind you swept his other leg out towards your knees and the next part happened before he could comprehend it; you leapt up in time to land precisely on his extended leg with a faint 'crunch', making sure to center your weight on his knee joint. He cried out and faltered to the ground, his knee aching and stinging so badly he was afraid it was too damaged to bear weight. While that happened Big Guy rushed you from behind and your lips pulled back into a white-toothed snarl. Instead of stepping away you crouched, still balanced on the kid’s leg where he laid on the ground and back-flipped clear over Big Guy’s head. A ‘crack’ was heard in your wake and the young man let out a short scream of pain. “GAH!” 

Big Guy did not duck in time to avoid it when you sailed over his head, but rather than landing behind him you shorted your flight by grabbing his hair and landing with your feet against his back, as though scaling a wall. He didn’t have a chance to throw you off because you hooked an arm over his throat and snapped his chin backwards with the correct amount of force to break his neck while running your wakizashi across the base of his tree-trunk throat, for good measure. He lumbered forewords before his thick legs buckled and he collapsed bug-eyed and raining crimson upon his student with the broken leg. The kid had nearly clambered to his feet before but now he was trapped beneath a few hundred pounds of muscle with the short enemy standing atop that not-inconsiderable weight. He spat out a mouthful of blood that spattered over his face and tried to struggle away. 

While that one was occupied you whirled to face the other two. Both were dumbstruck and remained right where you had last seen them: not far from the entrance. Since they seemed likely to sit still like the idiots they are you decided to tend to the lump of man-flesh underfoot. Activating the Fire Symbol and synchronizing it with Wind, you generated a tornado that quickly widened in girth to consume the space around the corpse of Big Guy and his still-living student beneath him. You hopped off the mound of two men and making the sign of ‘focus’ with your left hand, you outstretched your right hand and snapped your fingers in the rapidly circulating current of wind. The effect was horrific to the eyes of your next two victims: the wind ignited as though it were laced with oil and moments later their wounded comrade was shrieking his vocal chords raw in the loudest expression of agony his body could issue. 

But you also blurred from sight within the solid spinning core of flame. They took no comfort in knowing that you committed suicide in order to be rid of the corpse and the helpless one trapped beneath it.

Except that made absolutely no sense and they didn’t think their ‘fortune’ through.

 

_With The Others…_

Various strained outcries and screams echoed down the wide stony halls after Pein. He stepped into the lobby and eyed the mass of red-cloud robes off to the side of the door. The others all stared owlishly past him, trying vainly to glimpse what was going on from where they stood. 

“What’s going on?” Tobi asked, voice more steady than he felt. Those noises were awful and grated his nerves, not in a way that would make him angry, but incited wonder. He knew it must be you causing all that ruckus since all the screams were male. 

“Pein, he…that man was a large source of income, wasn’t he?” Konan asked with a hint of warning tinting her words.

“He is-“ Pein cut off upon hearing another bellow, particularly loud this time. That person must be nearest to the door. “-he _was_ , yes.”

 _’And he just got expended.’_ Tobi thought to himself. Yes, he offered more to the Akatsuki than others realized, giving counsel where it was due and such, but he did not run Akatsuki like he initially planned. What if _he_ exceeded his use someday? Who would be the one to kill him….you, his cute friend from the day you entered Akatsuki? Or could it be Sasori, Deidara or Kisame, each with their own vicious methods? Perhaps Zetsu, who would eat him alive? If instead it was Hidan, he'd sacrifice Tobi in that vile ritual of his. Or Itachi, who would dismantle his mind before he dealt the finishing blow? 

Worst of all…what if it was Pein himself who would do it?  
Note to self; must not exceed usefulness! Things were _not_ moving according to plan!

 

_With You…_

 

Two left, both gaping at the spiral pattern which the ground had been scarred into around the pile of dark ashes and charred bones. It once was a bear of a man and one of his young students. When their inexperience let them believe that the burning wind brought your end, they planned on turning away, but in doing so offered an advantage. They would've fared better if they knelt submissively and bared their throats to the slaughter. In that instant, when the youngest was too preoccupied in mourning, his friend shoved him hard to the side and absorbed a volley of needles.

“P-please…please don’t…” The unscathed survivor whimpered, backing away. His friend was still alive but he was lying in a widening puddle of his own blood. “I’ll do anything…” He croaked, fighting back tears. With their sensei gone, all his strength was exiting his body with every breath he took. He was the 'runt' of the litter, the weakling, the problem child that couldn't quite man up. “Spare us…it's not fair, we shouldn't have...shouldn't...” He begged, voice breaking apart as his eyes fell upon his sole living comrade. His friend was muted because of an ill-placed senbon to the neck. Otherwise he was a pincushion and couldn’t move a millimeter where he lay face-down in a pool of his own blood, his lungs too paralyzed to allow him to cough so that slowly he drowned in the liquid that oozed down his throat and filled the bottom of his lungs. More poured out over his lips and tongue, staining his teeth and adding to the growing pool beneath his useless body. If he'd been face up, his friend would notice that blindness took him. It was perhaps a mercy, since he could not feel his body at all, and seeing his own situation would be cruelty itself, to see this. Despite being packed full of venomous senbon which flickered silver in the last firelight dancing on the pile of ashes, he would die the most peaceful death of them all, but also the slowest.

“Why?” Was your simple question. He could entreat for mercy all he pleased. It would do nothing.

“I didn’t do anything to you! I’ll do as you ask! Please don’t kill me! Please! Please…PLEASE! I’M BEGGING YOU!” He bleated hysterically, tears rolling down his young face. He was probably eleven years old and tall for his age; too young to gain the knowledge of death. His sensei chose him for his great potential, and it was not enough to spare him.

Like you cared.

“For fuck’s sake, have the good grace to die the death of a shinobi, not a _coward_.” You spat disdainfully. “If you will do anything then have some goddamn dignity and FIGHT ME!”

His unsteady fingers grasped his katana and pulled it from the sheath. Since it was night time now, it was cold and frost was forming on the ground and the leaves of the trees beyond. His blade was sticking in the sheath and you walked towards him, robe whispering around your legs. He could hear his sensei’s voice in his head. _’Don’t be afraid kiddo, even if death is staring you in the face. Brace yourself and fight till’ the end. You’re not a brave boy. I took you in knowin’ that. I took ya in because even someone like you can become a brilliant shinobi. Ya just gotta swallow your terror and soldier on and do as I say, that’s all, kiddo. Now go run 100 laps before I shove my foot up your ass, ya lazy slug!’_

“Yes sensei.” He choked in a whisper, finally pulling the katana fully from its sheath and brandishing it before him. “I’ll do as you say.”

“What’s that?!” You called over, coming ever closer, enjoying his discomfort. 

His face shaped into a blank mask…the mask of a ninja on the job. He blocked your wakizashi when you brought it zipping through the air towards him and pulled a kunai out, aiming to stab you directly in the vitals. He failed because you took out the last kunai you owned and blocked it. Steel flashed in the dying firelight. The clang of metal to metal echoed in rapid succession around the arena and down the hallway. It is phenomenal what adrenaline can do for you; if you are unskilled it makes you proficient, if you are slow it makes you a speed demon…but a simple adrenaline rush could not save him. He swung his blade in a quick figure eight and aimed to sever you in half at the waist, but you disarmed him by cutting off the hand holding the katana. His eyes widened and he did not scream. Both fear and recognition of pain had ebbed away when he knew it was the end, and his closest friend stood in the way of doom to make good his escape, but even that was denied to him now. He was numb with the loss of his comrades and the sight of his friend drowning in his own lungs. He could barely hear the gurgling of blood in his throat while he struggled to try and take in precious oxygen. God…he wished that the poor thing would let go already. It wasn’t worth trying anymore.

You grabbed the katana from the fingers of his dripping severed hand and ducked under a swipe of your foe’s kunai. He took out more to throw at you but, arms crossed, you swung the wakizashi and katana and scissored him in half. Blood drizzled downwards in a line and you staked his weapon into the ground, raising a hand to nudge him in the forehead with your fingertips so he fell apart in two pieces, his entrails slopping out of his trunk and flumping moistly to the ground. The worst part of it was that he did not die right away. He would live a few moments longer, while his heart panicked momentarily for more blood.

Now he got to perish a little more painfully than his now-dead comrade. 

Satisfied with this, you bent down and wiped your wakizashi off on a cleaner portion of his shirt before walking away, leaving them there. Arena staff would have an unpleasant surprise for later. You walked down the hall and joined the others, sheathing your wakizashi and then wiping a fleck of blood from your cheek with a thumbnail. 

“What the hell just happened, un?” Deidara asked in an unintentionally low voice.

“What do you think, dumbass? Go see for yourself if you’re so curious.” You retorted.

 _’Those idiots were destroyed. That's what.‘_ Sasori thought. But he didn’t imagine that they actually _died_.

Before anyone else could respond, Pein intervened and began ironing out the details of the tournament. Everything was not set in stone yet so there would be another meeting required at a later on. You tried to listen but your attempt fell short; Deidara and Sasori were there, the blood was still rushing through your veins faster than normal from the fight and that’s all there is to it. The same thoughts that allowed you to murder (in cold blood) a group of drug dealers trying to rape a woman earlier came crashing back to the surface. All you wanted to do was hurt someone again. Pein sensed these violent impulses swelling with negative energy more than the others since he was standing not two feet away and his ringed orbs flickered in your direction. Something had you too upset, that’s for sure. He finished filling everyone in on the details (which, in the end, you didn’t catch a single one) and told the group that they were dismissed and everyone left…except they walked in a direction that is opposite of the door. They decided, collectively, to go see what mess you had left in the arena if anything was left to see. To see whether or not the enemy was alive and in a troubled state, or left horrendously butchered. 

Sure enough they were treated to a grisly sight while you went in the opposite direction alone; glad to be rid of the unwieldy money bag and the company of the others for now. Your heart and mind were caught in such a state of turmoil it was a bit scary, even to yourself. There wasn’t a time in your life where you could recall being this crossed between emotions; fury, sadness, happiness…you didn’t know _how_ to feel anymore and it was sickening. 

With your belly contorting in protest at the mere thought of eating you walked through the streets at a glacial pace in the darkness which was lit by lanterns strung out above, neon street signs, warm house lights and flickering, buzzing lamp posts. There was no comfort to be sought in a place that is bright even in the dark. Your eyes flickered towards a house of ill repute tucked back behind two store fronts, an alley leading up the hill behind the two buildings to what looked like a mansion. Some of the whores were outside, flirting and flashing their 'wares'…male and female, though you hardly believed your eyes. Most of the ones you could see were dressed classy not trashy since they probably had the money for it from doing ‘good business’. Only one of the males out of the handful of others was not actively trying to pull in some business, for he was attractive enough and radiated infectious confidence. Whores are there to comfort people and get paid for it. To make them feel good, you supposed. 

Despite feeling many sets of eyes from the hookers on you, you turned your head away and quickened your pace. There was no way you’d ever take a ride on one of the town bicycles. 

Nah. The kind of man you wanted...was there such a thing? Deidara had temporarily ruined a lot for you since you began to think of him in _that_ sort of way. You had been attracted to him and he hurt you for a reason that was still a mystery. You weren’t about to swear off men, you were still quite interested in them, but right now you didn’t know what you wanted anymore. Your work and training had absorbed the greatest portion of your attention so you never gave having a relationship much thought, especially after you killed your first boyfriend before he spearheaded your virginity. 

This was all too much at once. The past liked to haunt you and how fucked up is that; _you’re_ the ghost. Pein is your long-lost sensei that you’d been made to forget…the guy you looked up to for so long because he could literally do anything he wanted. Anything at all. He’s powerful in every sense, wise, the smartest person you ever knew….yeah, you wanted to be like him when you were younger. Then there’s these thoughts of your first boyfriend, and now a more recent component of the past came back to bite you in the rear. Gracious, you had to get over it, but it was so damned hard to do so! ‘Letting go’ was easy when you were younger. That was when you were still learning everything you know today, and thanks to Pein, more and more was coming back. Who knows what else you forgot? Some tremendous ability or memory? Or a bunch of smaller ones? There was a span of possibilities that kept listing on and on and felt endless, because to this day you learning that in this world, possibility is boundless.

In your thoughts and travels you practically tripped over a drunkard laying in the road, and you caught your balance and steadied yourself, glaring at the moron laying cheek-down in a puddle of drool and booze, a bottle of Blood Moon sitting nearby with the tips of his fingers inches away from it. This was when you looked up and saw that you were standing in front of a place that was a cross between an inn, a bar, and a night club. It looked like it could have been a mansion once. Perhaps it'd been through many incarnations with different owners.

You went in and waded through the crowd to the bar, and on your way spotted someone familiar. With a smirk tilting your mouth, you slunk over to this person and draped yourself over his shoulders, whispering in a deceptively alluring voice into his ear. “Hmmm, say mister…are you one of them baaaaaaad-ass ninja boys?”

He turned to look at you, all smug-like and prepared to make a comment…but that was when two sets of violet eyes mirrored one another, and the act dropped. “Saiya?!”

“Lo’ Hidan.” You pecked him on the temple and swung around gracefully to his opposite side to take up a barstool before one of the other patrons did. “Sup’?”

“What the fuck was that for?!”

“You’re complaining? I guess I should have expected that…hey!” You grabbed the attention of the Barkeep, who hurried over. “Yes ma’am?” He asked calmly, projecting his voice over the throbbing noise of the music. This guy was fearless. He had dealt with his share of knife-slinging crazies over the years in this establishment…he was one of the few that an Akatsuki cloak wouldn’t reduce to a puddle of frightened whimpering pudding. “I want a bottle of Black Sun and a bottle of Silvervaine.” You slapped some money down for him and he got you the two full bottles and a glass. You accepted them without thanks and glanced at Hidan, who was pouring himself more Black Sun and wincing when he gulped it down. He was still somewhat peeved at you, though. 

“Seriously, don’t fucking do that again.” Hidan grumbled at you. 

The reaction…it was exactly why you pretended to come onto him. Sort of. If you can call it that. Haranguing Hidan was a favorite pastime; it always lifted your spirits unfailingly. 

“Why? You enjoyed it at first. And I’m enjoying it equally as much…then and now, still.” You teased, pouring yourself some Black Sun and then shaking up the bottle of Silvervaine before filling the last part of the glass up with it and knocked the shotglass back before pouring yourself another one. “So what the hell are you here for Hidan?”

“None of your damned business.” He grunted. 

“Yeah I have some sorrows to drown as well.” You answered, being fluent in Hidanese. “Got some guy problems. Got some other problems too.”

Hidan gave up. He didn't care enough to try and shove you away. “Some damned woman won’t get off my ass about the last time I was here.” He answered. Black Sun will loosen a person’s lips and tongue if they survive the first couple of shots; it’s kind of like eating certain peppers, which can be compared to experiencing a meteor crashing into your tongue. Black Sun obviously does not have that same taste but the impact is more powerful and it burns all the way down.

“I guess we’re having some similar problems.” You said, swishing the bottle of Silvervaine and watching the floating silvery tendrils within it shimmer and revolve around the bottle. Once a person got past the ‘weird’ factor it was perhaps the most beautiful liquor in the cupboard. 

Hidan grabbed your Black Sun and poured himself some more when the bartender took away the bottle he foolishly left out. Hidan gulped it down and winced appreciatively at the hurt that extended from his mouth to his stomach. But you didn’t care that he swiped your bottle. You only wanted a little bit of it; the Silver appealed to you more tonight. It was deliciously sweet and its slightly thicker, smooth texture allowed it to slide effortlessly down your throat without much need to actively swallow. It made you feel good all over. 

Neither of you spoke for awhile and drank together instead. More bottles of alcohol were ordered, and just as much was knocked down the hatch. Eventually both of you had loosened up enough to enter into more lighthearted conversation without brooding over your situations…instead, you commiserated in way that the Barkeep was beginning to find amusing. Come on, it isn’t every day that you can say you had even one Akatsuki at the bar, much less _two_ of them, both talking about their problems like normal patrons whilst becoming thoroughly bombed without any discretion whatsoever. That was bragging rights if ever there was any.

Right now you both were laughing too hard, Hidan banged a fist against the polished bar counter, hunched over a bottle of Black while you were trying to choke some words out but were having a hard time because you couldn’t remember a damned thing you were talking about. Luckily other people were more hammered than you two, so you actually didn’t draw attention for once.

“Ya fuckin’ killed him?! HAHAH what the fuck! You fuckin’ shoulda…shoulda…damn...so you think that washh better than sexsh, huh?” He slurred, trying to pour more alcohol into his glass without succeeding, since he was pouring it onto the countertop instead. The Barkeeper grabbed the bottle and poured it for him, then started swabbing the puddle of blackish liquor up with a towel. “And ya shoulda…” You started only to cut yourself off to snort and laugh hysterically, staring at the five identical bottles in front of you (except you had one, not many) and making a grab for one, only for your hand to pass through the bottle. 

“Whoa!!!" You fell out of your fit of hysterics, swiping for the bottle again.

“This shit is fucking good. They fucking should put it in boxes!” Hidan declared, leaning shoulder-to-shoulder with you. 

“Oh my god! That’s a great idea, you should write it down!” You giggled, knocking over the bottle you sought. You probably would berate yourself later for getting hammered but for now…you needed it. Maybe Hidan needed it too. 

“Whatever..” Hidan slurred, mind wandering to another topic as he slung an arm over your shoulders. “I saw...that was sexy, earlier…”

Strangely you followed the topic without requirement of details in order to know what it was he was babbling about.

"Yea? Thanksh!!!”

“It musta reallllly fuckin’ hurt, ya know? Seriously musta…been so…damn…”

As Konan said once.  
There was tension and it would find an outlet. The Barkeeper motioned towards a Bouncer and the mountain of a man hustled on over and seized both of you by the backs of your robes. You were too drunk for him to be worried about repercussions.

“Alright alright you two, take it to a room whydontcha!” He grunted, hauling both of you away. He unlocked a door, tossed you two into the dark room onto the shape of the bed and then slapped a key down on the little table beside the bed. The lamp on the table was burnt out and the only light entering the room was from the one small window high up on one wall, and from the hall. He grunted something incomprehensible and left the room, grabbing the key up on second thought and locking the door on the way out. You guys would be able to get out. And you could deal with that, considering neither of you were about to be charged for the room. This was a courtesy to the more sober patrons. There was no telling how long you two would remain 'harmlessly' drunk.

But both of you had thoughts elsewhere. Hidan grumbled about dumbasses and crawled over you on all fours before you registered what he was doing. The moonlight from the miniscule window threw his features into sharp relief, and his skin was dead white under the moon despite the bit of color flushed into his cheeks from the abnormal amount of booze he had ingested. 

“I’m horny.” He rumbled through the poorly lit dark, his eyes glazed over from one thing or another. 

“M---MM!” Before you could get your drunken thoughts out his lips crushed against yours and his body fell against your own. You adapted and began kissing him back, with your mind beginning to remind you that he is a masochist so you sluggishly pulled your wakizashi out, inch by inch, from the sheath. Hidan’s mouth continued to ravage your own…and hell, you were enjoying it. There was ‘nothing’ to think about here so why ruin it? This was emotionally meaningless, and you've had your face on sideways for a third of the night, distantly wishing you could be making out with---well, who it was didn't matter any longer. As long as he was hot.

He slid his tongue into your mouth and started to mess with your clothing; you finally dragged that blade out and with your other hand undid the snaps of his cloak. It billowed loose and open around his muscular frame, which you couldn’t see as well as you liked, so you pushed him upwards so both of you were sitting more or less upright and started to drag his cloak off of him, while he began to pull yours off of you…his mouth now occupying the side of your throat. Your blood and skin was warming more and you also began to experience foreign discomfort in your nether region as you unfastened his pants, fingers clumsy and unfamiliar with the action. A lump developed in your throat and your brain was assaulted by a fit of dizziness, which was probably brought on by alcohol-polluted blood rushing straight to your skull. 

Without any thought you ran the edge of your blade oh-so lightly down the center of Hidan’s chest, he shivered and tugged harder at your clothes, having a lot of difficulty because he currently had zero coordination. Another touch of cold metal to his flesh made Hidan groan and stop what he was doing to grab your hand and turn the point towards him and….the most startling part of this for your drunk mind to comprehend…was that he hand-over-hand forced you to stab him right in the lower section of his belly and drag the wakizashi downwards. The wound trickled; and he was so turned on by the pain that it was obvious despite the poor light. 

Another cyclone of dizziness clawed your brains, forcing you to falter and let go of the blade. It remained in Hidan’s stomach and he leaned down and began to strip the clothing from you with renewed vigor despite having trouble with the many belts you chose to wear today. He got disgusted with them for the meantime and instead started to work with the fastenings of your bra, the blood rush was getting to his head also. He wanted this, so he tried to persist and get you as naked as possible, but he couldn’t do it…neither could you finish undressing him because the liquor had fully caught up with you. Apparently the same was true for your would-have-been fuckbuddy (who had been drinking longer than you) because he stopped and collapsed against your mostly bare torso, the handle of your wakizashi slamming against the space just below your belly button and bruising the flesh. You winced but were too dim to truly comprehend the pain and also realize that Hidan now had a blade shoved so fucking far into him that it was probably poking out through his lower back. You reached behind his back clumsily to feel for the telltale edge, and unintentionally caused more of his immortal blood to ooze out, streaming over his heated skin and onto yours.

The pain was enough to shove Hidan over the edge into a drunken unconsciousness, while the blow to your stomach was what did it to you. Your mind sunk into a blank stupor and because you remained still long enough, you passed out. 

Boy would you have an interesting situation to wake up to in the morning!


	20. Dig Too Deep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You find yourself reunited with a follower, but not in the best of ways. Shizune's task brings on an encounter she was absolutely ill-prepared for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been listening to this mix of 'epic, beautiful, powerful emotional' music. I think it influenced some additions to the chapter. Hopefully, everyone likes it. xD'

Dig Too Deep

 

Hours rolled by, one after another, representing a night lost spent immersed in alcohol-induced unconsciousness. When you awoke it was to a throbbing ache in the region between your belly button and your vagina, which, quite frankly, you were pretty happy _that_ wasn’t the source of pain. Aside from that you felt lightheaded but you preferred that to over a hangover. Silvervaine has the weirdest effects on various people. It'd been so long since you drank it, and it was easy to forget its influence.

Speaking of which…had you been on acid or booze? This man was there…both of you were almost naked, and oh yeah, you had blood drying all over from your stomach to your knees. Not yours, but... _Hidan’s_?!

What the fuck is Hidan doing here?!

Strange that you couldn’t have asked yourself that sooner, but you were now racking your brains to remember what happened last night whilst hurrying to disentangle yourself from the other. He was heavier than he appeared, and the handle of your wakizashi was grinding into your belly further. Ouch!

“Hidan!” You shouted in his ear. He didn’t even twitch and slept on.

Okay, so yelling at him won’t work. You grabbed his shoulders and shook him, that didn’t work either; he lazily swatted you away and continued snoozing peacefully, blade in his gut and all. Alright, that’s the last straw. You pushed him forwards so his torso was upright (though leaning limply and heavily against you), and seized the wakizashi, pulling it out abruptly. His eyes shot wide open and you stabbed him in the chest sourly, remembering the night before at last. Bastard! He tried to take advantage of you!

“AAAH! WHAT THE FUCK!!!!” He roared, startling you into cringing away from him on the other end of the bed, your wakizashi forgotten where it was stabbed through his heart. 

This was an intensely confusing situation. There's a blade through his heart. Why wasn’t he dead? Yes, you knew he could take a lot of punishment. But having been the person to re-assemble him, it never completely sunk in that he is considered immortal. Here and there you saw him stick his own heart or vitals with a pike, but it eluded your grasp that it was _real_ , since he always hopped back up and began complaining. “Hidan you…you’re…” Holy shit! For real, how is he still moving?! Immortality can't be real, can it?

The infuriated Jashin worshipper ripped the blade from his chest and glared daggers at you. “What the hell was _that_ for, woman!?” You didn’t respond. You tilted your head and examined his body, and he faltered and looked down at himself, then at you as well. His anger vanished in an instant and he dropped the wakizashi on the bloodstained mattress. “Uhm?”

“Yeah?” You were equally as befuddled. “We didn’t…”

“Thank Jashin we didn’t.” He grunted.  
“Damned straight.”  
He pointed between your eyes. “You’ll go to hell for trying to seduce me, bitch!”  
“WHAT?!” You were across the mattress, hands on his throat to strangle him. “ _You’re_ the one who came onto me first!”  
“Oh YEAH?” He tried his hand at a feminine voice. It was botched terribly and served to grind your nerves all the harder. “’Hey mister, are you one of them baaad-ass ninja guys?’”  
“What the hell, that was a joke!! Think up something _original_ , don’t use my words against me! How pathetic!!!”  
“WHAT DID YOU SAY BITCH?!?!!?”  
You sucked in a deep breath and screamed in his face. “I SAID YOU’RE PATHETIC! GET IT?!?!”  
“THAT’S IT!!!!” He grabbed and pinned you to the mattress, snatching your wakizashi up and raising it into the air, his violet eyes alight with madness. His Jashin charm dangled low around his neck, glinting in the rays of morning sun from the little window high up on the wall. This immortal maniac wasn't going to be easy to slip away from, and you really didn't feel like turning ghost right now just because of a few sour words. You struggled to throw him off, eyes wide. Damn it! _'Is he really going to sacrifice me? On a crappy inn mattress?'_  
Ahah!

“Are you planning to insult _Lord Jashin_ by sacrificing me on a shitty mattress that probably hasn’t been cleaned in fifteen years?!" He might've sacrificed people on a dirt floor and worse. It was a lame attempt, but an attempt all the same. He froze, the blade tip barely touching the space between your breasts, which were heaving up and down with every breath you took. Your dark blue bra was still on, but loosely so since he had undone all but one clasp in the back last night. “’Lord’?” Apparently the ‘gross’ factor wasn’t what stopped him dead.  
Now, mind, this was no time to screw up. You had a nearly-naked religious psychopath straddling your hips with an extremely sharp blade prepared to enter into your heart at the proper angle. Since you were afraid to say anything else (lest he decided to kill you on the spot) you stared at the wakizashi in his hand. “Yes.”

He lifted it up a few inches and you pouted. “That doesn’t change anything.”

“What did you say, Saiya?” He inquired with all due curiosity.  
“You heard me.” That was the second time _ever_ that he used your name. Well. That’s how it felt, anyway. Hidan fixed you with an interested gaze, making you feel as though you were thoroughly naked even if you weren’t. Great, now you probably got yourself into something you normally wouldn’t pursue; Jashinism.  
Although you supposed, if that’s what happened, it wouldn’t be such a bad thing…Hidan can’t expect you to stab yourself and do that weird ritual too, can he? You are not immortal per se…wait. Are you? You’d need to speak to Pein about that later since it is a bit of a confusing topic. But as it is, you’ve killed plenty of people, but never got into religion before…and hell, if it’d save your neck right now, you could always get out of it later. _Hopefully._

“I thought you were an atheist.” Hidan said, suspiciously.  
“My family believed in business, not heaven and hell.”  
He shook his head and leaned further back, settling his weight where he now straddled your thighs and looked down at the blood coating your skin and his own. Like it or not, you were completely at his mercy since he had the only weapon within reach and you knew that he strikes quick as a snake; there would be no way for you to get out of this alive if his mood changed. Hidan is one of the ‘juggernauts’ of Akatsuki. He has a thick skin, so to speak, but he’s unable to die as he had earlier proven. Due to that, he has nothing to lose since a sound knifing to the heart didn’t sweep his life away. Whereas _you_ are the medic and aren’t normally strong enough to fight without supplementing attributes with the ten symbols on your fingers. There was no contest here when you’re unarmed and slow from the aftereffects of Silvervaine. And, quite opposite, Hidan didn’t appear effected by last night’s drinking spree so you were at an even larger disadvantage.

“What?” You asked him, trying to stay calm despite having stabbed him because he almost screwed you…and were now talking to a man with a literal hole in his heart. Watching this little slit-wound, you could see the trickle of immortal blood tracing over his nicely defined stomach. His temper may be less than desirable, but you had to admit that the guy had an amazing body. If events took a different course, maybe it wouldn't have been so terrible for a single night. Undoubtedly though, some serious knife play would be involved.

He shook his head and got up, seeking the remainder of his clothing.  
You did the same and peeked in the small shower stall of the tiny bathroom off this room before Hidan could. “Ew. No thanks.” It wasn’t clean and you weren’t about to get naked in a room like that. It was unsanitary. As if the mattress wasn't nasty enough.

Hidan frowned and buttoned his cloak up two clips higher than normal to conceal the wound and glanced around the room. You had no idea where his scythe was, but something told you that they wouldn’t let it into the bar, and were grateful that he didn’t have it on hand a minute ago. Or else you'd be figuring out how to explain to Pein why you were a ghost lopped in two halves.  
“Were you serious?” Hidan asked finally. Evidently it was bothering him more than you thought. Now you saw that _today_ at least, there wasn't any going back on those words. Being as volatile as he is, Hidan could venture another attempt on your life at any moment.

“Ah, about that…I’m not immortal. I can’t pray like you do. Can it possibly be worth pursuing in that case?” Inwardly, you continued to marvel at and berate yourself for such ignorance. Why did it never before occur to you to devote a second's attention to where he stabbed himself in the chest during his rituals? How could you not have realized this sooner? Probably because you were often far too preoccupied with harassing him.

“Tch! I got my immortality _by_ sacrificing myself!”  
_’I mean, obviously. One has to must commit suicide in order to live forever. Who_ doesn't know that?’ you thought, floundering in the usual pool of sarcasm. “Hidan I can’t risk my life for that, a lot of people are depending on me. “ You protested. “What if it doesn’t work?”

“For fuck’s sake your whining is making me sick. Shut the hell up.” He shoved a closed fist against your heart and you reached up reflexively to prevent him from doing any damage. Miraculously, that wasn't his aim. “What-?”

“It has your filthy blood on it.” He snapped crossly. “I can’t fucking use it anymore. I have another one, anyway.” Something warm and metal dropped into your palm and he brushed by you, slamming the door behind him. You turned your palm upwards and uncurled your fingers. There sat the necklace that Hidan never went without…it had a little blood on the charm and a smear of that same red on the silvery beads. Except you didn’t recall getting cut, not even during your little tussle. 

Damn. Didn’t see that one coming.

 

_Konoha; the Hallway Outside of Shizune’s Office…_

 

“Thank you. I am so glad to hear that you got the last ones out of the wine cellar without incident.” Shizune said to the masked woman and her team. Tsunade permitted Shizune to initiate and run out some missions pertaining only to the issue of Gyaku Saiya without the Hokage’s explicit permission, like she usually required. Recently the wine cellar belonging to the late Gyaku Clan had been used as a safe haven for Gyaku Saiya’s subordinates to set up camp, so to speak. The last of these people had been extracted to the interrogation cells of Konoha Prison. 

“Many of them were not warriors.” The ANBU said. “A handful were rookie medics. And others were standard jounin. The only dangerous talents they possessed were ‘information control’ and also they had a room set up to grow certain plants normally used for medicine.”

“Or poison.” Shizune corrected her, a cool palm stealing to her own forehead. She leaned back in her chair, the tension between her shoulder blades ebbing away. “Did you post guards around the wine cellar as I asked?”

“Yes ma’am, I left two of my best behind to hold down the fort in my absence.”

“Good. I’ll send a team to relieve them from their post as soon as we finish here.” Shizune said, smoothing her hair back. She'd recently been better about getting to sleep, but this morning marked the second leg of a 48 hour stint. “For now I want you and your men to return to the ruins of the Sound; see if there's anything we missed. The same people have been sifting through the wreckage; I feel that a few new pairs of eyes might catch anything out of the ordinary. Also I would like you to depart to the Grass country after that and go to the Gyaku Compound. Make sure no one knows you are there and check everything twice--no, thrice more. We have zero margin for error."

“Of course ma’am.” The ANBU answered. 

“If more reinforcements are required, I have a squad on standby prepared to move out at a moment's notice, so send word if you feel it is necessary, captain." After a second, she added, "That is all for now.” Shizune nodded to the ANBU, all of which bowed their heads in respect before flitting off down the hall. She stood up to watch them leave, and then went into her office with a yawn. Some time she would need to go out herself and do field work on this mission but for now she would settle for gathering as much information as possible from here. Tonton oinked at Shizune from where she sat on the desk next to the fat manila folder snatched from Orochimaru’s office. The ink-smeared sticky note was now stuck to the outside of the folder in the middle of the top cover. 

“What kind of monster are you Saiya?” Shizune thought aloud, sitting down in her chair and stroking Tonton between the ears with the backs of her knuckles.

She took one edge of the folder cover between thumb and forefinger and dragged it closer, then started to turn clumps of pages over until she got the place she left off which was marked by a chunky pink highlighter sitting between the pages. Her eyes scanned over the surface of the page that the highlighter sat upon.

“You weren’t always a bad girl. What happened to you, huh?” She wondered to Tonton, who cocked her head and grunted pensively, mirroring her mistress’s mood as usual.  
She took out a packet of photos she'd examined countless times and started going through the pictures. There was one in particular of a young Saiya squaring off against a grown man with long unbound orange hair. Shizune squinted at the man in the photo. She had a hunch as to who it was after hearing some conversations between Tsunade and Jiraiya in the Hokage’s office. But there was no way she could be sure. The man that Jiraiya mentioned seeing in the woods one day had short hair of that same vivid color, not long hair…still, it is extremely possible. People change hairstyles from one year to the next. Shizune had to keep questioning and doubting and hypothesizing.  
Was it a ‘what’ or a ‘who’ that happened to Gyaku Saiya and turned her into such an unsavory character?

Someone knocked and she swiveled in her seat to see who it was rapping on the open door. It was a young man whom she barely recognized. He was one of the shinobi who worked with the interrogators.

“We're prepared for you now ma'am, if you are still interested.”

She didn't have a taste for torture, but standard procedures bore no fruit so the day arrived where she had no choice but to utilize Ibiki's talents. So it was with a sour taste in her mouth that she agreed to see this through personally. Though, it hadn't escaped her notice that they stalled until now, so it was probable that the interrogators got started early with things she didn't want burnt into her memory, but she sent word a few hours ago that she wanted to ask the prisoners some questions of her own. There was no more time to shut her eyes, to smile and pretend that the 'guests' were being treated fairly. "I’m ready now. I'll accompany you.” 

He nodded and led Shizune to the most obscure facility in Konoha where things go on that Sandaime likely would not have approved of.

 

_Konoha Interrogation Facility; Fifteen Minutes Ago…_

 

“Shin did they ever get a hold of that escapee?” A middle aged kunoichi in a bloodstained lab coat inquired shrewdly as she loaded a needle with a fluid used to wake the unconscious. Such things were not sanctioned for use, but they weren’t against the law either. They had to make doubly sure that the captives were awake and aware for when Shizune arrived, and that was bound to be any minute now.

The one named Shin blinked slowly up at her from where he finished shackling a badly mangled prisoner to the wall. “That other one from the Gyaku Wine Cellar?”

“Yes. Him.”

He rubbed his stubbly chin thoughtfully and stifled a yawn. The bags under his eyes were turning grayish-purple. Shin had pulled three all-nighters in a row since the beginning of the week, which was when he was put on this accursed assignment. His colleague in the lab coat on the other side of the room was capable of sleeping once a month without showing any signs of exhaustion, but Shin loved his sleep almost more than he loved his boyfriend. He didn’t know how that woman could do it. It must be an estrogen thing. Nearly every other woman working here was able to do it too, and most didn't complain.

“I don’t think so. I never got a straight answer but I was given the distinct impression that they lost em’ good.”

“Pathetic.” The woman sniffed arrogantly. She took the space between herself and the strapped-up prisoner in four strides and jammed the needle unceremoniously into the man’s neck. A few muscles tensed around the slim tube of metal. “Wake up baby-boy. I’m not done with you yet.” She snarled through her teeth. Shin cringed a little behind her back; he could swear she had something against men. She always took tremendous pleasure in torturing…erm…’interrogating’ them. “Is that how you get off or something?” Shin asked her lazily, plopping down in a vacant folding chair. Ibiki said he'd be along later, but sent word for them to begin without him. If they could extricate as much intel from these fools as possible; he'd be saved a trip and the effort.

“What’s it matter to you?” She sneered. “Mind your own business, fudgepacker.” 

He chuckled. Few things amused him more than gay jokes, names, slurs…pick one, he was capable of laughing any of these off. He could say just as many things about heterosexuals. Let them sling all the mud they wanted; it didn’t make a whit of difference in the end.

“It’s only a question. I thought it was valid so I knew whether or not I should steer clear.”

“You’re not bisexual what the hell do you care?”  
“Since when can you tell me what my sexual orientation is? You’re not in my head. If you were I would’ve committed seppuku by now. Y'know. Suicide, but samurai style.” As if she didn't understand what he meant...nothing ground this woman's nerves better than telling her things she already knew.

“You are a confused individual. Seppuku is no longer done.”

“Funny, you used the puppeteer jutsu to make someone do that to themselves the other day, oh Patron Saint of Hypocrisy.”

“This is completely off topic!”

Shin smirked. Days and nights plagued by exhaustion served well to drag out his sadistic streak, which is why this woman was making him stay down here for such a long while without sleep. Shin had worked in this facility for a very long stretch now and he was one of the best that Ibiki hired. “Not really. Loosen up, will you?”

The prisoner was having a hard time waking up even with the serum, so she went to a young woman whom was cuffed to a blood-soaked table and peeled open her one good eyelid; her other eye was mutilated beyond usage, even for purposes of torture. Her pupil dilated right away the second the brilliant overhead light struck it, and the young woman’s mind focused, her body tensing painfully. 

Her brain began to churn out a message that she had been telling herself like a mantra since her capture. 

_’I must not betray Saiya-sama._  
I must not betray Saiya-sama.  
I must not betray Saiya-sama...’ 

 

_With You…_

 

It felt as though it took forever for you to find a place to crash for the duration you’d be staying in Anarchy. But this room you got at an inn was particularly good; it was a suite on the top floor (which was not totally desirable because most people are too drunk to make it up the stairs in this town, thus it was available). But you sure as hell paid for it, because this particular place kept the plush upper rooms meticulously tidy. The room was spotlessly clean and the bed was soft and queen-sized, plus, the bathroom was large and possessed double sinks, a shower boxed in by transparent glass walls, and a bathtub that had not only water jets but what turned out to be chromatherapy lighting. Boy, would that be an interesting bath in the dark. Anyone could look good in a ‘certain light’ (but you hoped that you would be too drunk to make it up the stairs before something like _‘that’_ happened, ironically).

You locked the door, deposited your med pack and weapons and other accoutrement on the bed and then disrobed, tossing dirty clothes down on the sink counter without care. Right now, it was straight into the shower to quickly scrub down. You had not forgotten Kalahn, and despite how she never gave a time that you should appear in the morning you decided not to keep her waiting.

After an expedient shower you dried off, dressed, made sense of your hair, and went to the windows. Upon throwing the drapes open you were granted a wide view of Anarchy. You strained your eyes to pick out the forge Itachi and Kisame brought you to the other day. It was hard to see, but you recognized a few of the larger landmarks that you saw on the way to Kalahn’s place before. Evidently, it wasn’t all that far away if you took shortcuts.

Hmm. 

You pushed the windows open, pulled a screen out and rested it against the wall, grabbed the window sill, placed a foot up on top of it and launched yourself outside with a yelp of gleeful laughter. The wind whisked your damp hair back on your descent to the roof below. It sure was a long step down!  
But it’s not as though you miscalculate. There was an unused flagpole on the side of the inn and your fingers latched onto it once you were in range, used your momentum to swing around it four times and let loose at the proper angle for you to go sailing towards a flat rooftop riddled with skylights. You saw a shimmer of luridly blue water through one of them on your descent. You calculated your landing, fully intending _not_ to crash some windows and drown...and landed neatly between two of the largest skylights and promptly bounced forewords, keeping your momentum and rocketing forth between bubble-like windows and expanses of concrete roofing until finally you were soaring over the divide between this building and a smaller one, the polished Jashin charm flowing behind you, tethered to your neck by its gleaming silver chain. Your shadow over the street full of people alarmed those below you and many looked up, worried, only to see a dark blur shooting out of sight before they could understand out what it was. You touched down to various rooftops so lightly and quickly that it felt like you really were flying. It was a wonderful sensation that flooded every fiber of your being with energy, shaking you as awake as humanely possible. Normally it took awhile to wake up but how can you be drowsy through _this_?!

During your exodus you blasted right by Pein and Konan whom were having a conversation on a rooftop, both of them rather tired. Their cloaks and hair rustled with your passing and both turned to watch you go, Konan smiling and laughing a bit at the huge grin you had on your face. Pein shook his head slightly and rested against the railing. This roof doubled as a balcony for the residents. It was actually a pretty good place to have a private conversation.

“Uh-oh, what is she up to now?” Konan asked, now shaking her head as well but continued smiling. She fixed her origami flower automatically, as it had been knocked askew in the backlash of wind. She could have reached out and touched you when you passed by, so close had you been. Pein didn’t respond. He figured that he knew what you were up to, there weren't many things in the direction you were headed, and the forge was one of them.

You arrived at Kalahn’s shortly thereafter and she was standing outside the forge, wiping her mouth on a sleeve after killing the contents of a red glass bottle that you recognized as Blood Moon. She watched you come towards her, ignoring her son when he hurried over to stop you. He was tired and not used to needing to guard the house at this hour. Usually his sister was outside before now, but she got injured fighting some intruders during the night and couldn’t walk very well since.

“Son, go back inside. You will only die if you try it.” Kalahn called over to him, stopping the young man in his tracks. He hung his head and went back inside, upset that he roused himself from a half-asleep stupor for nothing.  
You ambled gracefully over to Kalahn, halting to look straight up at the amazon of a lady. “Hello.” You greeted, blinking some dryness out of your eyes.

“Hey there.” She said. “Come in, it’s finished as promised. But I need to talk to you first.” She turned and swung the doors of the forge open then stepped inside. It was not as hot as the day before due to the time of day, since it’s a chilly autumn morning. 

“What about? “You asked, following her in. 

She held up the bottle. “Good stuff.” Then she set it down, firelight filtering through it and throwing irregular red shapes of light against the walls and objects in the room.

“Thanks?”

“It helps me sleep, went to get some the other night. There’s a packy’ down the road, take a right…I am good friends with the owning family.” She went on. Okay. She was setting you up for something. 

“.…” Not much to say right now.

“Last night I spoke to them, and the father and his two sons, both freaked out as all hell, were talking to me about how they went to the Gyaku Wine Cellar where some people there would sell liquor out of it for a lower price than other suppliers.”

Now she had your complete undivided attention. All the happy energy underwent a peculiar transformation in nature to a darker, creeping feeling of tension, making you feel like a trap ready to spring on an unsuspecting fawn. “And?” You pressed, eyes narrowing. Kalahn saw that she was rubbing close to a nerve and continued right away. She might be bigger than you but if she had to fight you, she’d lose and she knew it. Now that she waded into the thick of what was becoming a threatening situation, she couldn’t get out of it. 

“There were Leaf ANBU there and they wouldn’t let them in. They said the cellar was closed for business indefinitely. They said the ninja were not rude to them or anything. Instead they seemed to pity my friend and his sons and sent them back on their way. But on the way back the oldest son tripped over a body. It was a shinobi. He was still alive and kicking, but so torn apart from battle that he had bled enough to be incoherent. They took him back with them out of the kindness of their hearts.” She put particular emphasis on the ‘kindness’ part. “They took care of him. Nursed him back to health. He’s doing alright now, at least he can speak properly since his wounds were patched up and isn't bleeding anymore.” 

“What did he say?” You asked through your teeth, irritated with her babbling. 

“He only asked if anyone had heard of the whereabouts of Gyaku Saiya.”

“And you said?”

“I didn’t say anything to him since I didn’t speak to him myself.” Kalahn said. “But I told my friend that I met you. He asked if I could bring you to his house so that his new guest could see you. My friend doesn’t know if he’s going to live or not, he doesn’t have the money to pay for a medic and there is no local hospital. It's a miracle he's alive right now. Will you see him?”

“Yes!” You snapped. “My katana?”

She pursed her lips disapprovingly and went about getting the weapon for you while you got out the money. You didn’t know what Kalahn wasn’t happy about. Maybe it had something to do with the price of her booze going up because you had the balls to tell _your subordinates_ to stay in _your own_ wine cellar and sell _your_ family label for funding…though, the price went up a hell of a lot more now because there wasn’t a way to restock the package store’s supply of Gyaku label alcohol. How could your guys have gotten busted?! Tch, it wasn’t _your_ fucking fault. But something smelled wrong already, and it wasn't Kalahn's breath.

“Here. I hope you like it, took me the rest of yesterday.” She held out a sheathed katana and you took it, unsheathing it and immediately seeing your clan insignia engraved on the blade just above the small handguard. The metal was black, and the handle was wrapped in black leather, also with black, purple and silver twisted cord hanging down alongside it. You gently grazed your thumb across the edge and were cut, and nodded to yourself. It was as sharp as could be, and that was for the best. A good blade can be the razored line between salvation and annihilation.

“Do you have a whetstone?”

“No…Kalahn, this is amazing. I’ve never seen such a katana before, the detail is remarkable, the weight and length feel perfectly correct, too. Thank you very much. I will take proper care of it.”

“Here.” She picked a dark gray rectangular stone up and handed it to you with a smirk, radiating self-confidence over your compliments. The whetstone wasn’t too big, it did not need to be. You handed her the money (seeing a little white tag tied around the lovely detailed black sheath) and then took the tag off, resheathed the sword and healed your thumb without a second thought. You put your new whetstone into your pouch and turned to Kalahn. “Bring me to that house then, if you would. I must see him.”

“Okay.” She headed out and yelled for her kids to watch the place while she was gone. You positioned your katana right where your wakizashi normally was, but situated your wakizashi against and above it and then followed the tall woman. “This is very convenient.” You said to her suspiciously. “If you are trying to pull a fast one on me, you’ll regret it.”

“Now what the hell would I do that for? Your family makes my favorite drink.”

You sighed and crossed your arms insecurely. She was being willfully obtuse, what a joy. And you were in no mood now to correct her. Your family _is_ dead and the only thing they'll be making more of is maggots. Still, you had to admit, you could make a heavy profit off the business. More was to be made once you could divine a proper location to build a new distillery and also a more remote distribution center, as it was in your best interests to keep the cash flowing. If demand was high, the prices would raise in response and liquor sellers would clamber to carry your label in their establishments. In a world stricken with woe, drink was often the answer for anybody unable to raise arms.

The trip to her friend’s house went nearly unnoticed. Your mind continued to linger elsewhere and as you followed the tall woman out of your peripheral vision. It was ridiculous; that wine cellar was well hidden for over a century and it hadn’t been found by anyone that the Gyaku family didn’t _want_ to find it. There used to be a contact point for traders so that your clan could hand off freshly bottled or aged alcohol to those who were willing to go the extra distance to get it from the source at a reduced cost. That was purely for cutting out the excess middlemen. The distribution center itself demanded higher costs for the additional work on the Clan's part, but that building was demolished on account of a fire. So all that had been left was the contact point.

In hindsight, that had to be it. Someone must have followed the traders to the contact point and then stalked a worker back to the cellar. The Gyaku Wine Cellar was so well hidden that it was practically a thing of legend, like Atlantis…there’s no physical proof that it exists, just word of mouth, and a silly joke since the family never made wine, per se. The reason for its secrecy was because it also doubled as a safe house for those of the clan whom needed to be scarce for awhile. Your family did have a bloodstained past…a scarred, rough one riddled with unseen atrocities. Things had gone on that were better left unmentioned. And of course, it never hurts to have a place to go in case it is required for one reason or another. 

Kalahn’s calloused fist knocking against a windowless pale wooden door awoke you from reverie. A gray-haired elderly lady peeked through the window near the door then opened it. She smiled at Kalahn while wiping her hands on a foodstained apron. “Come on in Kally--ah, who’s your…uhm..” She paused, squinting at you through the half moon-lens pince-nez situated on her nose. “…friend?”

“This is Saiya. The woman that your guest requested to see.” Kalahn told her. “Is your daughter-in-law home today?”

“Yep she took the day off to watch over him. My son’s here too, the others are down at the store. Come in, come in, where are my manners!” She stepped back, forgetting that she had already invited both of you in already. You followed Kalahn in quietly, having nothing to say to the old woman. You were never good at respecting your elders.

“Up the stairs, dear…the first room on your right…yes, that’s the one.” She directed while you headed upstairs and put a hand on the closed door uncertainly.

You knocked briefly, waited a moment, then opened the door as a muffled voice called, ‘It’s open.’ By the time he finished his short declaration you were standing in the door, glancing around the room with a raised eyebrow.

“Saiya-sama! I didn’t think you would come!” He exclaimed. You afforded an icy, grim smile. “I didn’t exactly have much of a choice, now did I? Something is amiss, others are probably being tortured for information as to my whereabouts as we speak…it all must be taken care of, and you are closest at hand to ask the all-important question: What the _fuck_ did you people do wrong _this_ time?” 

He flinched and lowered his head guiltily. He was particularly handsome and one of the people you enjoyed working with the most out of all of those whom acted as your subordinates. His eyes were the trademark white tinged with faintest lavender of the Hyuuga clan he had a strong tan complexion in contrast to his long white hair tied back in a loose ponytail. He always took good care of himself. In a contrast to his comrades; did not let his training border on obsession and get in the way of personal care, yet he didn’t wear a comb on his sleeve either…and he was motivated too, with a seemingly pure soul. He was so honest that one always knew where one stood with him and he was constantly attentive to everything said when in your presence. With all this, he wasn’t your type sadly. You preferred someone whom was…shall we say…darker of heart, hair, and eye?

And having worked with so many, you could never remember this kid’s first name! You always ended up calling him Hyuuga. He had been something of the black sheep of the family and ran away from the Hyuuga Compound years ago. He stayed in the wine cellar for a long time now with some others who hung around there.

“I don’t know what went wrong first.” He admitted. “It all happened so fast. ANBU from Konoha rushed the cellar and overtook us. During the fight Mai told me to run and try to get to you. She sent me because she said I’d be able to see you easiest of us all.” 

You understood that. Mai was right; of all people to send to find a needle in a haystack, this Hyuuga was the ideal candidate. Not only could he see very far and in such a detailed fashion; but he never gave up on a task unless it proved impossible. “Mai…she told me to run…and…I got caught at first too…both of us and some others were taken back to a building where we were tortured for awhile. I managed to escape when they were trying to chain me to a wall. It’s all a blur…but still…” He made eye contact with you, choking back some emotion that wasn’t fear or tears, maybe anger or shame or a mix between all of them, so he spoke in a halting fashion, his tensed shoulders quivering with tremors of anguish. “Th-they have Mai. Most of the others…they…died, because the interrogator was so mad at them for not speaking that she cut their throats. But Mai…Mai’s still alive, I know she is. She wouldn’t say a word or scream or anything when they tortured her. She said she didn’t want to give them the satisfaction and kicked up a fuss so I could escape when I did.” It was more obvious now; he was overwrought with shame and anger that he was the one who escaped instead of Mai, whom acted as the leader of this little ‘group’ in your stead. You had taught her quite a bit, she was practically a student of your own, though not officially. It sort of happened on its own. Mai stuck by you for a long time now since you’d been on the run, and offered to use herself and her connections to help you however she could. In exchange she would stay with you for reasons of her own…protection and shelter and knowledge. But she was always in the shadows, remaining unseen by those you encountered. Orochimaru never saw her when you ran into him. Kabuto and Sasuke never did either. Mai could nearly turn invisible in order to remain undetected if she wished….she’s an excellent kunoichi and you were pleased to have her on your side, and that she would lead in your absence in such a wonderful manner as she had done. The woman wormed her way into your shrunken heart, whether you wanted it or not, and you grew to care for her as a comrade does. In a twisted sense, she'd been the closest thing you had to a sister.

So the fact that Mai was trapped in some distant pit of the Hidden Leaf infuriated you _visibly_.

“Saiya-sama?” Hyuuga inquired in a low, nervous voice. He shrunk back against the pillow upon sensing invisible waves of burning negative energy roll off of your person. Talk about bad vibes.

“How long ago did this happen?”

“A week ago today.” 

“…”

“I tried to find you as fast as-“

“Enough.” You told him firmly, watching his expression and posture. It was difficult to determine his age, but he'd experienced some terrible things no matter how old he was. No one is too old or young to suffer a life-changing trauma. “It’s a miracle you found me at all.” You sighed and looked away through the window. This had been a girl’s room; the walls were powder pink and the curtains were made of a shimmering pink, white and brown printed material, and the bed spread matched them nicely. The floor underfoot was carpeted in an area rug of soft green with a square brown border. Half of it vanished under the white ruffle-skirted bed. Somehow, Hyuuga didn’t look altogether out of place in this room. You were sure he was grateful to have a place to lie down, though, you couldn’t see what wounds forced him bedridden. 

There was a thought. You had yelled at the one who faithfully came looking for you. You owed him something for that, so you went into the room from where you stood at the door and whipped the blankets back from him. He almost cringed but stopped when you sat at the edge of the bed, rolling your black and red sleeves back, and then set about checking his wounds. They were sloppily bandaged. Of course, the housewife had no fucking clue what she was doing. You snorted in distaste and began undressing each wound and healing them. It was painstaking work; there was hardly a part of him where he wasn’t injured, thankfully, most of these were not so bad since he escaped as soon as he could from the interrogation facility. 

“Anything else, now?” You asked him distractedly. He was mesmerized by the sight of your glowing hands at work and he shook his head and frowned. “Like what?”

“Any names or faces? Anything? Something? _Anything_?” You reiterated, stressing the 'anything'. 

He laughed a quivery, exhausted laugh. “Ahhhh…well…the interrogators, there was two of them in particular. One was named Lilla, the other was…ah…” He struggled. “…K…Kon? I think. And the Kon guy, he said something to Lilla about switching out with a person named Shin."

“What else?” 

“Kon also talked about keeping a lady named Shizune away for as long as possible so she couldn’t interfere. They didn’t want her to see something, I think.”

“It isn't unlikely that they were operating under unorthodox or otherwise unlawful and unsanctioned conditions and orders.” You thought aloud. “You mentioned going to a particular building for interrogation. Was it very obscure?”

“Yes it was.” He answered immediately. “It was actually somewhat hidden amongst other buildings. You wouldn’t be able to find it if you haven’t been there before.”

“I don’t know a hell of a lot about Konoha, so I can’t speak to that. A..." You broke off, searching for a description. "...a 'friend' of mine would _certainly_ know. He was the ANBU Captain from a young age, I hear.” 

“Huh? Are you serious?” He asked. 

“You’ll have heard of him since you’re from Konoha yourself. Uchiha Itachi?”

“You know that guy!?”

“What do you expect? Both of us are in Akatsuki, dummy.”

“Sorry. I wasn’t thinking. So if it isn’t too bold to ask, what are you planning on doing about this?”

“We are in a stranger’s house. That _is_ too bold to ask. I am grateful that they took you in though.” Then, after another minute, “ There. All done. You should be able to walk now.”

He bowed his head low. “Thank you very much Saiya-sama. I will be more careful next time.”

“There is not to be a ‘next time’, understand?” You got up. “Lilla, Shin, Kon and Shizune, huh? Very well, if that is all you have to say I’ll be on my way. Keep your nose clean, kid.” You unfurled your wide sleeves and allowed them to fall back down, covering your hands, and then dug around in your robe pockets “Here. Where’s your wallet?”

“I didn’t manage to get my things back after they confiscated them Saiya-sama.” He admitted, embarrassed. He wasn’t an accomplished pickpocket like you were. You rolled your eyes and motioned for him to follow. “Oh fine. Come on then.” He had nowhere secure to put his money so he had to tag along, at least for now. This fellow had gone through so much on your account and right now he didn’t have food, shelter or another change of clothes. He got up, slipped his damaged shirt on, and left the room after you. You were on your way downstairs and saw the elderly lady and a careworn brown haired woman who looked to be in her late forties standing in the hallway at the bottom of the stairs. They moved aside. “Oh my!! Tatsuo, you shouldn't be walking!” The forty-something old woman exclaimed in worry.

Tatsuo? Oh that’s right, Hyuuga has a first name. It's such a pain to recollect every name, but if you were going to be dealing with these people again, it'd be best to refresh your memory.

“Saiya-sama has healed me. I’m fine now.” He smiled uneasily at them. “Thank you so much for taking me into your home. I wish I had some way to repay you.”

“Yes.” You agreed with him, startling the women. They hadn’t heard you speak before. “Thank you for what you have done.” You moved to a nearby table and placed a hand down on its scrubbed wooden surface, laying down a fat stack of ryou. “What would ordinarily be paid for my services as a medic I will give to you as compensation for what you’ve endured. Hopefully this won’t happen again. Have a good day.” You nodded over your shoulder to Tatsuo and made for the door, leaving without another word while Hyuuga thanked them again and followed, slipping his shoes on quickly at the exit. 

“Alright kid, we have to get you something to eat, something to wear, and a place to stay.” You said, heading off the property. You didn’t see Kalahn but you had heard her somewhere in the house laughing boisterously with a male voice while you were on the way out. Hyuuga was watching you out of his peripherals while walking close by. You always struck him as an oddball; especially when you switched so fast from playful punk to serious shinobi. It was as though you had another personality buried inside.

You bought him decent clothes to wear and found a place for him to stay in the same building as you, but it was two floors below yours. You wound up having a late breakfast with him also, and gave Tatsuo some pocket money…nothing extravagant, but you did feel as though you owed him this much at least for the tremendous shit storm he weathered. Being nice wasn’t your thing these days, so it was an uncomfortable notion that you had to baby this kid around until he’d be alright on his own. Come to think of it, he wasn't exactly a 'kid', but he was blatantly younger than you. Most likely in his late teens, perhaps only a few years older than his more famous relatives Hinata and Neji.

After breakfast you were planning on turning him loose so he could explore Anarchy while he was here, but Hyuuga stuck faithfully by your side in the way a lost puppy would. You brushed by Kakuzu wordlessly at one point and spied Sasori going into a shop later on, but otherwise saw hide nor hair of the Uchiha you sought. For some reason the others weren’t approaching you like they normally would. It probably had to do with Tatsuo. His presence at your side might tell them that you were busy. 

Hyuuga also didn’t show any sign that he planned on leaving you, which was possibly a good thing the more you thought about it. If you found Itachi, then Tatsuo could offer details about the situation should any specifics be required. Hours went by and you gave up and stopped by the teahouse that you got yanked into the other day. You ordered tea and sweet dumplings and slouched against the wall that you sat next to.

“Is there something wrong Saiya-sama?” Hyuuga inquired softly, tapping his fingers on the table and watching you. The waitress that poured both of you some tea was eyeballing him out of her corner of an eye, and you could figure out why. It isn’t often that you meet someone with a visible kekkei-genkai and more to the point, such clans are legendary. Many girls dreamt about going out with and eventually sleeping with a man such as Uchiha Sasuke to help rebuild the mighty Uchiha Clan, certainly they also considered bedding a Hyuuga, being as prideful and powerful and notoriously intelligent as they are rumored to be. And oh yes, let us not forget that many of them are rather attractive. And this is all assuming that not everyone is completely overtaken by the social stigma that a ‘freak-gene’ presents. Sexual attraction, however, can sway most people.

But too bad so sad for the waitress; this Hyuuga didn’t seem to notice her presence at all. He had been deep in thought until his wandering, vacant, bored eyes fell on your utterly defeated self. 

“I was looking for someone, remember? But there is only two of us and this whole city to sift through. It’s almost impossible.” You admitted. 

“There is a way around that, right?” He answered, smiling a bit. “Think about it."

You raised your eyebrows and looked down at the dumplings in front of you. “My brain is fried.” You mumbled, leaning on your elbows and covering your face with your hands. You had a lot to deal with and now wasn’t the time for your mind to cease to function. So much had happened recently it was a lot of information to cram into your skull. The short evening spent with Hidan had been fun until you both awoke in the morning. It’d be nice to take more of a break.

 _’Its sexual tension probably.’_ You thought to yourself. _’I hear it can be fatal.’_

“So?” Hyuuga prodded gently. 

“I guess I’ll…ah…” You made eye contact with him, now placing your forehead against a palm. “Make clones.” You shook your head and straightened up. His eyes. That's what he meant. It _had_ to be. “Do you know what Uchiha Itachi looks like?”

Hyuuga appeared thoughtful, biting his lower lip for a moment before shaking his head. “I think I’d know him if I saw him. Most of his clan had similar traits."

“With any kind of luck he will still be wearing a cloak like mine and hopefully he isn’t using his hat. But he has a red-stoned ring on his hand with a silver band, and ah…black hair tied in a ponytail and black eyes. Sometimes they’re red.”

“Sharingan, you mean? Why would he use it unless he’s in battle?”

“I cannot explain him, and that's irrelevant. Use your Byakugan to find him.” You ordered. “After we finish here that is.” Tatsuo nodded, relieved he didn't have to spell it out after all. “Of course.” Both of you finished eating and having tea and then left after paying. You leapt up on top of a nearby roof, and so did Hyuuga. He activated his Byakugan and turned his head this way and that, scanning for the one you described. Itachi is a fairly distinctive figure so it would be hard to miss him if he was within range of the Byakugan. You resisted the urge to flop down and leaned against a nearby chimney, glancing around as well. Thankfully, Hyuuga found Itachi before long. He made a clone and sent it to Itachi, directing it from his vantage point. It was a relief that Tatsuo was so efficient. While waiting, your fingers worried at the silver chain of Hidan's charm.

 

_Minutes Later; On The Streets…_

Kisame and Itachi were talking when a clone intercepted them. Kisame frowned at it, noting the white eyes. “And who are you?”

“That doesn’t matter.” He said to Kisame, seeming to dismiss him entirely and turned to Itachi. “Saiya-sama wishes to speak to you. Would you follow me, please?”

Kisame growled and Itachi nodded once. “Very well.” He was curious at least. The clone turned and bounded away, heading directly for the rooftops so they wouldn’t lose him in the crowd. Itachi followed quickly after but Kisame grumbled and lagged after him. They fast arrived at the meeting place. Hyuuga wasn’t standing far away, and released his Byakugan and allowed his clone to ‘poof’, then he went respectfully quiet.  
“Thanks for coming.” You began, watching Tatsuo sit down inches to your left before turning your attention to your friends. Both of them could tell right away that you were a wreck. Itachi was also quick to note the Jashin charm around your neck that you incessantly wrung around your digits, the very same necklace Hidan was never seen without. And now there was one from the Hyuuga Clan with you, who deferred to you with great respect. At the realization that a lot must have happened, Itachi felt an annoying sting of some emotion he didn’t care to figure out at the moment.

“No problem.” Kisame spoke up first. He was suspicious, as was Itachi…of the way you were acting. As seconds wore on, it was clearer that something was very _off_. “What’s up?”

You placed a hand on Hyuuga’s head and mussed his hair a bit. He twitched and visibly resisted the urge to swat you away. “This guy came here to find me and let me know what fate has befallen my followers.” You said. “They were captured by Konoha, tortured, slain, brutalized and probably raped. They’ve done too much for this transgression to go unpunished." Your hands paused and you let the chain clink softly against your chest. "I found out from Tatsuo here that this all was ordered by a woman named Shizune. From what I know she is the current Hokage’s aide.” You paused and shook your head a little, folding your hands in your lap. “Konoha is interrogating a woman named Mai. Mai is to me what I would guess Shizune is to Tsunade, and she is being tortured by some people named Lilla, Kon and Shin.”

Itachi raised an eyebrow by a minute fraction. “Lilla and Kon are two of Konoha’s most ruthless interrogators, taught by Ibiki himself and second only to him. They have been so for as long as I can remember; and year before I left Konoha they were removed from their posts for their consistent usage of cruel and unusual tactics. Later that same year they were reinstated as head interrogators in a facility built by the Feudal Lord under the Hokage’s nose. They went to great lengths to keep it as secret as possible because the interrogators at the facility employed certain methods outlawed by Konoha in addition to other things deemed to be unorthodox.” 

You were quite startled, and let the emotion register openly. “Itachi, how do you know so much about this? I was only hoping for a possible _address_.”

“ANBU maintained a substantial connection with the interrogation facility without the Hokage’s knowledge, Danzo had much to do with keeping it operational with the Feudal Lord's blessing.”

“It was underground.” Hyuuga said. “I almost didn’t escape.”

“Yes. It is underground so that the Earth itself acts as a fortress. There are only two ways in and out. One is a contact point set up outside of Konoha’s defensive wall. The other way is through ANBU Root Division. Both are heavily guarded. You will be unable to force entry.”

“Excuse you?” You snapped crossly. “I could if I had to!”

“Perhaps so. But not without risk.”

“Was there anything else you could do instead?” Hyuuga asked nervously.

“I can’t leave Mai and the others in there to die, not after they’ve done so much for me.” You protested.

“But Saiya-sama they drove Mai _mad_. She might as well be dead!” Hyuuga shot back worriedly. It would be a trap. There was no way you could go in there and get back out alive. Konoha would scoop you up, toss you in a prison cell, and have the best night of their lives.

“He speaks the truth.” Itachi said quietly. “If both Kon and Lilla are working on this one project then none of the hostages will survive. They always kill without fail at the end of an interrogation.”

You looked away, gaze flickering to the silent Kisame, who didn’t know what to say.

“Alright.” You said. “So tell me, in the event that things go pear-shaped, what's the safest way in and out of the city?” Itachi inclined his chin. He thought he had an idea what you were plotting. “It is very far away from here you know.”

You waved this off. “I’ll blackmail Zetsu into a round trip.” 

Itachi began explaining and you took in every single bit of information attentively. He did not need to repeat himself on anything, and even told you that the Hokage building is hard to get lost in so you’d be able to find ‘whatever’ you’re looking for. You thanked him at the end of his explanation, which turned out to be fairly brief. Once inside the city, assuming Zetsu would drop you off outside the walls, it would be easy to find your mark (in theory). The Hokage building is a very prominent one. It'd be difficult to miss, and its passageways were marked out properly for visitors. Now you had to hope that the bitch you were aiming for was working there.

“So what’re you planning on doing?” Kisame ventured out while absentmindedly adjusting this strap across his chest that fastened Samehada against his back. Itachi’s impenetrable onyx eyes focused on your face, monitoring your reactions. He was becoming able to read you like a book the more time you spent around him.

“I,” You began slowly, drawing it out. “Am going to find Shizune.” 

Three sets of eyes became completely laser focused upon you. It sounded like suicide already.

“When I find Shizune I will make her **bleed**.”

Hyuuga’s pale eyes widened, spooked. He had never seen you like this. Then again, he'd never encountered anybody stupid enough to cross you.

“And when Tsunade finds Shizune,” By now they were hanging on every syllable, whether they meant to or not. There was something captivating about creeping dread and vengeance and the sound that your voice became as you spoke of this; it sounded like pure evil, so deliciously soft, a cold caress to the ears and heart in the deathly manner only two people could manage that Kisame knew of. And both of them were standing right here. 

“…she will likely _scream_.” You abruptly leapt off the rooftop and vanished in the rushing crowd below, startling quite a few people and eliciting a few shrieks from the daily horde during your exodus away from the other three. 

“Still want to follow her?” Kisame asked Hyuuga rather gruffly, who turned and looked almost saucer-eyed at the shark man. His inexperience as a shinobi was blatantly obvious. He was disused to dealing with murderous people, but he was always learning. “I...” He faltered. “I came this far didn’t I?”

Kisame snorted and turned away. “Sucks to be you, kid. You have no fucking clue what you’re dealing with.” Itachi closed his eyes in agreement. Kisame was right. Over the months they'd known you, you had changed in ways that people like Tatsuo wouldn't comprehend until situations such as these stared them in the face. It was frightening. But 'frightening' is what they've come to expect.

“Where to now Itachi?”

“…” The other said nothing, his eyes snapping open and muscles coiling beneath him. He sent himself flying across the street to another roof, then leapt to another. Kisame followed closely. Hyuuga was left behind, nervous and alone. He activated his Byakugan and looked around for the place you had gotten him a room at, and then went for it. 

 

_Hours Later; Konoha, Outside the Hokage Building…_

“Thank you very much Zetsu. I owe you one.” You whispered while glancing around the area, quite flustered while prying the other’s arm away from your middle. He had to touch you in order to bring you here. You didn’t specify that he must stay out of your personal space so he took the liberty of pinning you right against his person while allowing strange chakra to consume him from his ankles up, taking you with him to the Hokage’s building in Konoha. Though you mostly expected he would drop you off outside the walls, surprisingly he didn't. Zetsu could appear anywhere in mere moments which was a highly useful ability for your current purpose. Wight told you he (they?) would wait for you since there was plenty of information that could be gathered in this place. However, you had to leave when he (they) were ready, no sooner and certainly no later.

“Hurry up.” Darke rasped.  
“We aren’t wasting any time.” Wight added softly.

“Yep!” You barked and darted inside of the building and he followed, but both of you went in opposite directions. Itachi had been dead to the point as usual; he had perfectly described this place and it was indeed quite as easy to navigate as he said. You were heading towards the top floor where the Hokage’s office was. When you had been outside before you saw a couple of lights on up on the top floor. Everyone else in the building was gone for the night so you wouldn’t be surprised if the ones staying after- hours were none other than Tsunade and her assistant Shizune. If things didn’t go so well (since you’re flying by the seat of your pants) then it’d be someone else, maybe a bigger group of people. But either way you had to do something since you were here. Zetsu wouldn’t have wasted his (their) time since he was digging for information of some type while you both were here; but you didn’t want to waste _your own_ time if it could be avoided.

You crept up several flights of stairs and paused at the door, listening. There were no footsteps in the area beyond. You nudged the door open and peeked out into the hallway. There was another door at the end of the hallway. Other doors were closed and the lights were off within those rooms, since there was no light filtering out from beneath each door.

You noted a panel with a row of switches beside the door at the end of the hall and went right over to it and flipped them into the opposite position, turning the lights out. Despite the curly red clouds bordered in white on your robe, you almost blended right in until you began walking through pools of moonlight, which illuminated the white borders of the clouds and made the white more of a pale blue. You heard a door open somewhere not far away and then you flitted behind the door you came in through, keeping it open a crack so you could peer into the hall again. A very haggard looking older man came out with a thick folder. He turned a page in the folder and you caught sight of your own face staring blankly out from a photo. “Miss Shizune?” He called. 

“Yeees! I’m in Tsuande-sama’s office!”

“Coming, coming…” He shook a mess of shaggy gray bangs out of his eyes, his back facing your direction. You smirked and walked into the hallway, moving towards this unsuspecting person. You placed a hand on his shoulder and he stopped, heaving an irritated sigh. “Kyo how many times do I have to tell you not to..” He grumbled, turning and catching your gaze, simultaneously sealing his fate. You focused on his eyes and it felt to him as though you were looking into his soul, the most wretched sensation he'd experienced in his life. You carefully lowered your hand from his shoulder, analyzing his visage. Yes. This would work excellently. You didn’t want Shizune flipping out the moment you stepped in the door, especially since she was studying _you_ so late at night. Wouldn’t that be a bloody nightmare? Literally?

The man’s eyes went blank and he closed the folder, hands shaking from the effort of trying to throw your iron grip off his mind. He had fallen into a genjutsu and you had control of him. A hand stole into your pouch and you removed from it a vial of grass green fluid. It wasn't very large. But only half of it was needed to kill a man…and you wanted him to drink _every last drop_. It wouldn’t be the most dignified death.

Upon memorizing his old features you executed a series of handseals while your captor stood there with a closed folder in one hand and a test tube of death grasped in the other. “Drink up.” You instructed him softly. “Drink every single drop and go back to your office.” Now that you looked like him, you smiled and took the folder from his quaking hand. “Go now. I got this.” You whispered, and walked down the hall, heading towards the Hokage’s office. You knew what one it was because the doors were not only particularly nicely made, but because said doors were wide open and artificial light was flowing out into the moonlit corridor. It had to be easy for visitors to find.

While that old man guzzled every last bit of the poison you stepped into Tsunade’s office and saw Shizune sitting at her desk, poking through some files. Whether or not Tsunade said that Shizune could go through her desk probably didn’t matter; Shizune seemed to be pursuing her mission doggedly and wouldn’t give up until it was done. 

“Ah, thank you very much.” She said to you with a grateful (albeit exhausted) smile. “Did Kyo sneak up on you again? He can’t help himself, he loves a good scare, even though he isn’t a kid anymore.” Shizune, you noticed, appeared eager for some company. Maybe to help her stay awake, or for another perspective. 

“Would you mind closing the door? I’d like to bounce some thoughts off of you but I don’t think anyone else can stomach what I have to say.” You smiled and closed the door while she didn’t wait for a response and started babbling away.

“But what I have to say can’t leave this room okay?” Shizune fell quiet and you knew she was waiting for you to respond. Except you couldn’t replicate the old guy’s voice so it was now or never. You locked the door and turned around to look at her. 

“Of course it won’t.” You said in your own voice. Shizune stared at you and uttered a laugh. “Hahahah! I knew you used to be a ventriloquist but hey, its late! Don’t play jokes on me like that!” You should have seen that one coming; Shizune was so dead tired she was probably willing to reason with anything. Sometimes people got that way when they are very sleepy. 

“Come on now, be serious!” Shizune reprimanded jokingly. 

“Haven't you noticed?” You asked her, letting the genjutsu dissipate. Her black eyes widened and her face slackened from fleeting happiness to shock. _“You’re the only one laughing.”_

Shizune knew who you were immediately. She had read too many profiles and seen too many pictures not to know. “You’re…Gyaku…S..Saiya..” She stammered, taken completely aback. “What…how? Why?!”

“Ohhh yes, so many questions, I’m sure.” You drawled, walking through the sizeable gap between door and desk. “Shizune, darling, you’ve crossed _quite_ a few lines.” 

“I what?” She gasped. “I didn’t-” Shizune fell short, uncertain. Wait, had she done something? Upon wracking her brains she realized that she had indeed ordered ANBU Black Ops to invade the wine cellar. 

“You didn’t? But you _did_ , Shizune. You had my people hunted down and tortured my most loyal. Only one survived that I'm aware of. But because of you I lost someone whom was valuable to me.” You paused before the desk and pressed your hands upon the surface, leaning on it and narrowing your overshadowed eyes at the woman across from you. 

“I am sure you’ve heard of a couple expressions before. ‘Do unto others…’, ‘What goes around comes around…’, and oh, guess my personal favorite, Shizune!” You moved around the desk and slammed it away, sending it skidding a solid seven feet away from both of you and scattering the things sitting atop it all over the place. The lamp placed atop it spun to the floor, cracked, and began flickering, ruining the sole light source for the room. Shizune flinched and stared at you like a deer caught in headlights. She knew that she should do something, but couldn't manage an attempt. Her limbs felt paralyzed. Was it fear that immobilized her? Is any sensation more profound than that?

Was she terrified that she had been hunted down first, when she'd been searching for you herself? “I don’t know…what?” She had to try and be brave. You could give her that much credit.  
You grinned. “Its, _’An eye for an eye.’_ ”  
Shizune paled. 

“Her name was Mai.” You said, sighing. “And she was as important to me as you are to the Slug Woman. But you know what the worst part is?” You motioned towards one of the photos scattered on the floor. It was of you, looking away from the camera and laughing about something. “That you dug waaay too deep and learned _far_ too much, Shizune. Did you think there wouldn’t be consequences?”

“Mai isn’t dead!” Shizune protested. “I met her in the interrogation room hours ago!”

“Oh she isn’t?” You asked. “Huh. Imagine that.” You took a spool of wire from your pouch. You had bought some specifically for tonight. “Oh well.”

“She’s…I can bring you there…” Think. Is there an alternative, a means to save herself? Alas, Shizune wasn’t armed. It was night time, in the middle of the Leaf Nation, where she felt safe. Running to and from the office with only the bare essentials was preferable on long days of office work. There’s so much security at the gates these days, why would she have cause for concern?

“And your point is?”

“The point is I told you so you wouldn’t kill me!” Shizune snapped, the weight of her folly bearing down upon her. “She’s alive, so-“

“-When did we make that agreement?” You interrupted, advancing. Shizune didn’t dare try to make a break for it. After studying you for so long she knew it wise not to provoke you or things would become infinitely worse than they were already. Now all she could do was try to talk you out of whatever you had in store for her. And involving others would only result in pointless deaths. “Saiya, you don’t have to do this. I can help you! You weren't always like this!"

“I was born in the morning but it wasn’t _this_ morning.” You sneered. “I don’t need any help sweetheart. Don't claim to know me.” 

“Yes, you _do_ need help!” She argued, but you were bored with her disagreements and cast your gaze around the room. It would be a lot better if you could string her out across a wall instead, but the floor would have to do, so you took your wakizashi and slashed deep into the back of one knee before Shizune could react. She buckled and hit the ground, blood rapidly fanning out from underneath. “The whole leg goes next time.” You snarled. “Sit still and take it like a woman!”

“If the situations were reversed Tsunade-sama would never try to get revenge, not like this!” Shizune retorted, trying to ignore her screaming nerves. “Don’t go through with it! You weren’t always like this Saiy-AAAAAHHHH!” You seized one arm and hacked her hand off at the wrist. “Shut the fuck up. You’re annoying.” You ordered.

But she wasn’t about to listen. “Who…who is he?” She gasped painfully. Black strays adhered to sweat upon her cheeks, forehead and neck. Oh, it hurt. Her arm, her leg...in no time flat she lost enough blood to make her dizzy, but she had to keep focus. There must be a way out of this alive. Perhaps distracting you and playing for time was the only way. Surely, somebody heard the screams by now. So much for not involving others. You stopped wrapping her thighs together with the wire so she couldn’t get away and afforded her a cold stare. “What?”

“The man you trained with when you were little. Who was he?” Shizune was doing a marvelous job of handling the hurt thus far. It's no small thing to have a hand severed.  
“None of your damned business.” You finished tying her legs together in a brutally tight fashion and picked up the wakizashi again. Tonight was not the night you planned to quench your new katana with the blood of the unwilling. But it was tempting. Putting aside such concepts, you started undoing her top shamelessly. “HEY!” She shouted. You glared at her. “Shut. Up.”

“What are you DOING!” Shizune demanded. “Stop that! I don’t swing that way!”

“Believe me I am _far_ beyond the stage of bi-curiosity.” You answered distractedly. “You’ve been studying me so you can kill me; I think you’d have learned that somewhere down the road. But guess what else you should’ve learned? I’m a medic and I have seen more than my share of naked people. Deal with it.” 

Her top was opened and her chest wrapped with bandages was exposed. Some girls do this for when they’re training since a single bra strap can be cut easier than a mass of wrappings. She might’ve been training earlier. You wore something like that sometimes, only on occasions where you intended to train rigorously. “This is irritating. I was looking foreword to seeing if it _is_ possible to unhook a bra with one hand.” You commented blandly. Shizune blushed fiercely and turned her head away, her head pitching into a whirl of dizziness with the motion. She tried ignoring the persistent throb that her stump of a wrist had subsided to and the stinging in the back of her knee, in addition to the intense discomfort of wires cutting into her thighs, but it wasn't easy. You worked the bandages open and her breasts were exposed. During torture anything goes. Judging from what Itachi said you knew that those two interrogators would do whatever struck their fancy so you would do the same. It wasn’t as though you were sinking to their level or anything; you’ve done _worse_.

“Don’t! Don’t!” Shizune cried, tears rolling from her eyes whilst you slid your blade into the area right above a collarbone and slit it sideways, following the shape of the bone. You did the same thing to the other collarbone. Unlike when you tortured someone with Itachi, you didn’t have a goal like information. You desired to mangle her, to strip her of dignity and honor. If it wasn't apparent already, this would not be a kind death. 

“AHHHH!” With a flick of the wrist, your meticulously sharpened blade sawed into a nipple. Blood beaded around the edge as you worked around the circumference of the sensitive pink nub, the beads of blood fattening and breaking into a thickening stream that trickled down the mound of her breast and onto her stomach, then sliding down her side and onto the undone mess of her bandages and staining the white into scarlet. Her tearstained face contorted in agony and her body twisted and strained against the wires on her legs. You lifted the edge away when she began to squirm, then slid the blade into her bellybutton and hooked it back upwards abruptly, ripping open her stomach. More blood gushed out over her flat belly. Shizune was so dizzy from blood loss she could vomit.

You inserted that wakizashi in between her ribs and cut more slits between them, deciding to give this treatment to every single bit of bone that poked out visibly under her skin. In no time what could be seen of her skeleton was highlighted in smeared red over once-ivory skin, her clothes sliced to pieces and lying askew. The more she screamed the more your head hurt. For fuck’s sake, she really needed to shove it, already. But it wasn’t about to happen any time too soon with that warming metal darting in and out of various places on her person. Something must be done about it. 

“This is what was done to Mai.” You told Shizune flatly. “This is what you ordered to happen. And now it’s coming down on _you_. Not very fun is it, Shizune? Are you glad you did it now, because I’m willing to bet money that no one spoke a word about me~” You finished in song, seizing her jaw with slippery, bloody fingers and making her look at you. With a galaxy of bloodspray decorating your lower face, your whisper was sanguine. “Talk to me, sweetheart. Talk to me.”

She was shaking uncontrollably all over and her mind was a jumbled mess of gray fluff. Shizune refused to say sorry. She couldn’t bring herself to say it. All she did was follow orders. There’s nothing to apologize for is there? You didn’t try to make her say sorry anyhow. Why the hell was she thinking it? That was about as bad as _saying_ it. The world wasn't make sense anymore. The red liquid jewels adorning your visage glittered in flickering, dying light. It was all she could see now.

“No? Don't want to talk to me? Okay.” You brought the tip of your wakizashi to the left side of her face first and with the hand holding her jaw dug your blunt black nails into her skin and pulled her jaw open as far as her tendons would let you…then dug the metal into her mouth, separating saliva-slicked flesh and bone with minor difficulty until at last you popped one side of her jaw out of joint. Another shrill cry funneled up and out of her throat. You twitched and out of irritation turned the wakizashi’s point towards her throat and with a tiny and quick snap of the wrist, snipped the small uvula from her mouth, with the hope that it would stall her howling and shut her up for a few minutes. It dropped onto the back of her tongue and she gagged but was forced to swallow it out of impulse, and then started coughing violently, trying to unstick the glob of flesh. But it was a squishy lump in her throat that nearly choked her but created discomfort, much in the way a ‘horse pill’ can be when it gets stuck in your throat. After that, Shizune hardly twitched. It was nothing compared to the rest of her body. Her reactions were lessening. You were wary of her soon-to-be unresponsive state and sat back against your heels to consider her for a moment. You could finish unhinging her jaw; there was only one side to go. The severed part was hanging onto her face by a measly scrap of muscle and skin. Looking around, you noticed that the only reason why you hadn’t been totally soaked in blood around the knees was because you were kneeling on the mass of bandages mixed with tatters of her robe-like shirt. Shizune’s blood had formed a massive pool, luminous scarlet in the moonlight and flickering lamp that had crashed off the desk and to the floor earlier. 

“I found a woman in the interrogation room.” Said Wight’s voice from behind you. Zetsu must have recently come in because you didn’t sense him before. You turned your head to eye him from over your shoulder. “Eh?”

“Your 'Mai' was worse than that.” 

As though in defiance, stabbed your wakizashi forcefully in between Shizune’s legs. Whether it inserted into her slit or severed her clitoris you didn’t know, but whatever happened there, Shizune shrieked the loudest yet, making both yourself and Zetsu suppress a cringe. Blood sprayed from her maimed jaws and coated her tattered lips, adding a layer of crimson to your bare throat and chin, a new choker of ruby. She coughed and hacked wetly, and it ended in a vile rattle. Her nerves were overloaded, and the overlapping layers of pain dulled each other, replacing one agony with another and another. Over your shoulder, Shizune could see Zetsu's shape walking across the room. Maybe he was searching to find out why the world was throbbing. She wanted to know why too.

“I'm finished." Wight informed you pointedly. You nodded, watching him from over your shoulder , and without looking twisted the blade, thrust it in once, then dragged it out at a snail’s pace. Involuntary tears rolled anew down Shizune's stained cheeks, mixing with the red and forming lurid pink. You wiped the wakizashi off on a scant portion of her clothing that wasn’t drenched in blood and got up, sheathing it. 

Zetsu busied himself (themselves?) with the documents he (they) noticed scattered all over the place to ignore the sickening urge to bite into the wounded woman’s hot flesh. The metallic aroma of her blood enticed hunger to roil within his stomach, it had been so very long ago that he last ate someone alive. So, it was because of the near-slavering hunger that Zetsu felt the need for a distraction. “These should be burnt.” Darke rasped, perusing a sheet crammed full of tiny print. 

“I agree.” You had taken out a white glass bottle and shook it before uncorking it with great care. Shizune's eyes rolled lazy across your knuckles, to the bottle. How'd you know she was thirsty? Maybe you could give her some painkillers, too. That would be nice. Her body hurt everywhere. She'd been overdoing it again, working too hard. What a nice woman, to come up here so late at night with painkillers. The less slashed side of her face tugged uselessly towards a smile, and death's rattle gurgled low in her throat. Generosity is so rare in this troubled era.

Unaware of her thoughts, you started pouring the contents over Shizune from head to toe, shaking it this way and that so it was distributed properly. The moment the thin lavender fluid made contact with flesh (or with anything for that matter) it began to smoke and hiss and eat away. Skin melted, blood simmered, hair sizzled, and so on…it was quite disgusting, especially with how Shizune writhed and whimpered painfully, her numerous wounds stretching open and closing like many mouths with every movement as well…a nasty sight to behold indeed, if you didn’t look at her face you wouldn’t be able to identify it as ‘Shizune’ anymore. A burning smell issued from behind, and you identified it as Zetsu setting fire to those documents. When you corked the bottle and turned around you discovered that you were right in your assumption; Zetsu had mounded the papers and the folder on the empty surface of the desk and was letting them burn. The surface of the desk was glass. Unfortunately nothing else would catch fire in here because of that. As your overshadowed eyes lingered on a ink-smeared sticky note as its topmost edge curled and blackened, you said, “Thank you Zetsu. I’m ready to go.”

“About fucking time.” Darke growled, and Zetsu strode forth to grasp your shoulder. You didn’t look down this time when you felt the strange sweeping sensation of chakra pooling underfoot. You might’ve just tortured a woman but you still found it bizarre that you were now sinking downwards into a small abyss of chakra with a guy who was mostly consumed by a plant. 

Both of you returned to the nameless city.


	21. Press Play

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsunade reacts to Shizune's murder, the Sound Nation culling makes global news, many uncomfortable conversations are had, and the day winds down to a striking and pleasant end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took longer than usual to work on. o.o Sorry for the delay.  
> About the clothing issue: understand that I'm not pressing my idea of style on the character, as that isn't how I dress. Just thought I'd put that out there. xD'

Press Play

 

The night passed in the fashion it tends to when one is sleeping heavily. You usually slept the best after a solid torture session. Was almost as though the activity exhausted you, except it didn’t. It was more of, ‘now I have _that_ out of my system, I feel much better!’.  
So when you awoke you felt refreshed and full of energy. But you also didn’t want to roll out of bed right away, so instead you did something that normal women do and grabbed the remote off the bedside table and turned the television on and began surfing channels. There weren’t many, and most came in as static. There was about twenty of them, the channels spanning between news, weather, one movie channel, a channel dedicated to music, and other random ones mainly overtaken by infomercials and soap operas that made you want to imbibe rat poison for breakfast. Thankfully, that ghastly soap opera in particular (or as you for some reason thought of them, ‘soap box opera’) with particular theme music that made you angry wasn’t on. It was too early for that, as it usually aired in the afternoons or evenings. The small digital alarm clock sitting on the nightstand beside you read 11:07 AM in dim green. 

_’I don’t remember the last time I slept this late.’_ You thought. _’When did Zetsu and I get back last night? Or was it this morning?’_

Either way it was fine. Akatsuki was here in the nameless city for the games but until those started up; there was an opportunity for some hard-earned rest and relaxation. But you didn’t really listen to Pein when he spoke to the group about the tournament so you were clueless. Maybe there would be something on the news about it? Surely it would be local news, right? There was normally a local channel in each country or city as far as you saw in your past travels; though you never had the chance to sit down and waste some gray matter on the ‘boob tube’, as one of your genin teammates called it back then. 

Upon surfing to the news channel and waiting patiently through a commercial for a grocery store, you squinted at the location (location, location) banner across the bottom of the screen. This must be a world wide channel or something; that grocery store was far away in the Tea Country.  
The commercial break ended and a ‘dramatic’ news logo flew by, the camera switching over to a desk where two extraordinarily tense news anchors sat, a man and a woman. The man was fidgeting with the papers in front of him and the woman was looking past the camera before launching off into her report. ‘Breaking News’ flashed across the bottom of the screen in 3-D letters colored in a gradient of red, orange and yellow. In the upper right-hand corner of the screen a box popped up, displaying a familiar ruined landscape. A woman was standing to the side in the box. The word 'LIVE' blipped on and off in the opposite corner of the screen.

“We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to bring you this report. Live from the Sound Country, Mio Tamaka….what happened there, Mio?”

“Oh it’s terrible, Lina! What was once the Sound Country has been left in ruins! Konoha’s ANBU Black Ops, whom have secured the whole border, are refusing to release a statement about how long ago this has occurred. They did however tell me that they believe this to be the work of a criminal organization known as Akatsuki.” Mio said, a hand gripping her cordless microphone tightly. A wind blasted by and rustled her brunette hair in its semi-fancy up-do’. She placed a petite hand over the sound piece in her ear to shield it from the breeze.

“Now there are some questions going around about Akatsuki, is it true that only a few people would have committed this atrocity?” The male news anchor asked. A moment later, since it took that long for Mio to hear through her earpiece, she answered, “Yes. I am told that they work in two-man cells.”

“That is incredible, only two people to destroy an entire nation?” Lina said, aghast.  
“Yes but that isn’t all.” Mio continued. “The water supply has been heavily poisoned. A team has been working for days to formulate an antidote and have had no satisfactory results. The reservoir has been shut down, and all the water mains out of the country are being closed off as I speak. A warning to the public has been issued for people to boil their water before they drink it just to be safe and Konoha’s Medic Division is planning on distributing the antidote once they finish it.”

“What should I look for if I think someone or myself is poisoned?” The unnamed male anchor asked wisely. 

Another moment waited, then Mio said, “The poison has various effects on each person but in 75% of reported cases, the first symptoms include constriction of the throat and difficulty breathing as well as blurry vision and a high fever. Be cautious, if yourself or someone else is feeling any of these symptoms then go to the local Medic Division for help. Your doctor will not be able to assist you in this case so until the crisis is resolved each Medic Division in the Hidden Villages has agreed to open to the public until the end of this epidemic.” 

“Thank you Mio Tamaka, live at the former Sound Nation…don’t touch that remote, there’s more about this tragedy to come after these messages.” The male news anchor said, and the screen switched over to a laundry detergent commercial. You frowned. That’s it? And this late, huh? Konoha certainly was striving to minimize the press damage. It seemed that they didn’t want to bring about a general state of panic by such news. But they also would be unable to hush every voice. Surely news about this had leaked out already by additional means; so that must be why they opted to let those bloodsucking leeches of reporters slither in on ground zero. And, you decided, any amount or type of news coverage on what happened at the Sound would offer publicity and help send a message. These people had been made an example of. Akatsuki is once again the greatest threat out there. It showed that Konoha and the Sand, the only hidden villages involved in large-scale fights with Akatsuki thus far...were _unsuccessful_ and full of shit in respect to ‘minimizing the threat’. The shinobi from each nation in addition to the Hokage and Kazekage would receive a lot of flak for this.

You started surfing channels again, wondering what film would be showing on the movie channel.

 

_Konoha; Hokage Building…_

 

“Is that news segment over yet?” Tsunade demanded irritably. “Where’s Shizune! And what the hell is going on?! I want answers NOW dammit!” 

The middle aged woman bowed and hurried away, seeking the answers that the Hokage wanted. Iruka was there too. He was tired and wishing that this could be a relatively quiet morning for once. He'd been called in early over a half hour ago and hit the floor running since he awoke; this was _not_ his idea of a nice day already. He had no problem with working but he hadn’t been asked to come in so early in awhile. Normally he left home in order to make it to the academy about twenty minutes early for class. 

“Iruka-san, have _you_ been briefed on the situation?” The middle aged woman asked.  
“I came in early didn’t I?” Iruka answered tiredly. He swiped under his left eye with the side of a finger, stifling the umpteenth yawn since his arrival.  
“Would you kindly brief Lady Hokage on the situation then? She is demanding answers and fast, as usual.”  
Iruka sighed. “Sure thing.” He marshaled the facts in his head. There was a lot to tell. “Thank you so much Iruka-san. She is on her way to her office." The woman was picking absentmindedly at her nail beds. The cuticles were a touch swollen and reddened from constant abuse. She appeared conflicted, with a query on the tip of her tongue, but when Iruka paused and quirked an inquisitive brow at her she relented. "I hesitate to ask, but have you seen Shizune-san?”

“No I haven’t. She's not in her office?”

“No, that is why I ask. She is usually in before Lady Hokage. And no one else has seen her either.”

“Did you try calling her?” Iruka asked, scratching his head. Boy, that was _really_ weird. Shizune isn’t one to shirk on her responsibilities. 

“Yes. She isn’t answering and I sent a runner to check her residence. They haven’t returned yet. But, Iruka-san...I have a bad feeling about this. She's never, ever late.”

“Nevertheless, I better go talk to Lady Tsunade before she blows a gasket.” Iruka said thoughtfully. The woman nodded and hurried away while Iruka went to find Tsunade, who was getting herself some tea in the breakroom. It was a peculiar sight. Shizune wasn’t there to get it for her today.

“Good morning.” Iruka greeted.  
“Morning, Iruka. Do YOU know what the hell is going on around here?” Tsunade asked sharply.  
“Er…more or less, yeah.”  
“Wonderful! At least _someone_ does. Walk with me to my office.” He nodded and went towards the office, keeping pace with the agitated woman. “So what is happening?” Tsunade inquired after taking a deep, grateful sip of her highly caffeinated green tea.

“A body was found on the top floor, it was that older fellow that started working here part-time almost a week ago. I hear he was pulling late shifts to assist on that project." Iruka's eyes were straight ahead, as were the Hokage's. "He died of poisoning but it appears as if he drank it of his own volition. ANBU is already taking care of the situation. The Medic Division declared that he died after midnight.” Tsunade motioned for Iruka to continue. “That’s all I know about the death, but the press is having a field day now that you finally let them in on what occurred in the Sound. They’ve already crossed a few boundaries and we are doing everything we can to soften the blow. The papers, tabloids and all news programs are in an uproar, and have the public running scared to the opened Medic Division offices. Schools are closing temporarily, the Department of Public Works has been working around the clock on new measures to purify the water, and to my knowledge five different riots have broken out in Konoha _alone_ since the headlines were publicized."

Tsunade nearly sputtered on her boiling hot tea and frowned at Iruka. “What?! So soon?!”

“Unfortunately.” Iruka answered as sincerely as possible at this ‘ungodly’ hour. None of it sat well with him either. 

“Alright. I have to see what I can do about this. And where the hell is Shizune? SHIZUNE!” She bellowed.

Iruka cringed. “Lady Tsunade, Shizune is nowhere to be found. Perhaps we should work on this now and wait for her to catch up later?”

Tsunade shook her head and rummaged in a pocket for the keys to her office after trying the door and discovering it to be locked. “The one morning where I need her the most, and she doesn’t show up.” She muttered. “What the hell..” The door didn’t want to budge. It only acted like this when someone locked the door from the inside for some possessed reason. She meant to yell at maintenance to fix it, but wound up getting in the habit of locking the door from the outside instead. Finally the key stopped jamming in the lock and the door clicked open. She grasped the handle and pushed it open (while Iruka was very pleased with the Hokage for not giving in and smashing the door down), and immediately Tsunade froze. Her teacup slipped from her fingers and shattered on the floor into a mass of thick white chunks of glass and the pale jade of what tea that remained in the mug. She didn’t take notice that some of the steaming hot tea had splattered down her leg and was burning her skin. Her face arranged into an expression Iruka had never seen on the Hokage’s face before. 

“Uh…I’ll go and…” He trailed off, watching Tsunade walk into her office with rough, stilted steps, as though she were a marionette. He frowned and peered into the office after her and saw the burnt mess of the desk before he noticed the _best part_. A ‘squish’ was what attracted his attention to the next component of the debacle.

His dark eyes turned to the floor, half dreading what he’d see, but not seeing it before a horrific sound assailed his ears. His eyes nailed shut and he clamped his hands over his throbbing ears immediately.

**“EEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!”**

It sounded rather like a banshee who certainly could hold a note. But there wasn’t a female ghoul of lore in the room. It was only Tsunade.  
And himself. And…

….Shizune?

Stunned, Tsunade stumbled backwards into Iruka, eyes wide. His hands flew up to catch her but he tripped a step as well and Tsunade was sliding out of his grip before he could prevent her from falling. The Hokage dropped out of sight and Iruka caught himself against the corner of the wall and one of the opened double doors. He was shocked into silence at the grisly scene laid out before them. A wave of nausea broke over him. 

It was as if his nose became unclogged, and the sensation of nausea intensified. A disgusting stench hung in the air; the smell of rotting flesh intermingled with burnt paper, wood and ink. But the worst part was spread out all across the floor. Tsunade had accidentally stepped on a severed human hand lubricated on its back by blood and slipped. When Iruka failed to hold her upright she collapsed into a cold pool of coagulating blood. _Shizune’s_ blood. 

Tsunade twisted to place her hands against the floor to stand up hurriedly, and her palms slid in the muck she went quickly face-down, feeling the coolness of that dark scarlet fluid against her front and, worse yet, _her face_. As if on command then the contents of her stomach shot into her throat and a sickly wet gag and choke later, Tsunade gurgled and ejected the liquid contents of her belly out onto the floor into the congealing blood. She continued to vomit _so_ violently it was actually projectile puke. Once all the acid and tea was out of her belly she was dry heaving, her face not visible from Iruka's angle. It was probably better that way. It'sincredible what can happen to even the strongest woman in the nation of Konoha when she must witness and, to a point, _experience_ the death of a diligent student, assistant and fiercely loyal friend. Iruka wanted to turn away but he couldn’t. It was like a terrible accident: you can’t stop staring no matter _how_ badly you want to. 

Iruka gagged back his breakfast as well and finally made himself turn away from the sight of that hideously mangled corpse. Shizune looked as though she went through the meat grinder in a slaughterhouse. Her flesh was _shredded_ in horrific ways and _melted_ in a sense that Iruka didn’t dare look at long enough to identify. He closed the door (with himself on the other side in the hallway, thank you) and looked downwards at his shoes. He had some blood on the soles but thankfully he wasn’t drenched like Tsunade came to be. The Hokage really needed some time alone right now. Shizune meant so much to her, more than anyone realized. Tsunade might yell at Shizune a lot but that was her own awkward, loud way of showing that she cared. He tore his gaze away a second time and placed a hand on his stomach. He decided to skip lunch later. He might avoid dinner, too. And it was a pity. Naruto was back, and would probably want to spend lunch hour with him at Ichiraku’s but he couldn’t consider food right now. For fuck’s sake, each time he blinked he saw the image of Shizune’s bloodied, slashed, maimed form emblazoned onto the insides of his eyelids. A noise attracted Iruka’s attention and he took his hitai-ate off so he could rub his forehead and also the scarred bridge of his nose. Tsunade must be past the ‘grossed out’ stage and into the grieving part, where she was crying for Shizune but trying to suppress it…which _could_ explain the soft hiccupping and sniffling. 

His attention was attracted to the sound of a door slamming open down the end of the hallway and the din and clamor of many voices all shouting, questioning, demanding. He didn’t recognize most of them until they came into eyeshot.

Goodness gracious, could the Press spare Konoha its fucking _dignity_ at least?

 

_With You…_

Your eyes remained glued to the television screen even while you switched it from a gooey animated corpse lumbering towards a screeching woman pressed against an ancient iron fence to the news again. The special effects were really cheesy anyway.  
But what you saw on the news station was the best thing you had seen on TV _ever_.

It was a live feed from Konoha, and the star of the show? Slug Lady Tsunade whom was shaking and ill, covered from head-to-toe in blood, her front also streaked a bit with what must be vomit. She was silent and trying to force her way through the throng of reporters with the assistance of a guy whom was battle scarred vividly across the face. You would’ve loved to see _that_ fight; one wrong move and it looked like his head would’ve gotten lopped in half!

It was impossible to tell what the reporter of this channel was trying to say as he covered the story as loudly as possible on live TV, so instead you watched the mayhem unfold. Tsunade’s mood metamorphosized rapidly from damp sorrow to sizzling fury. It was quite plain to see how ready that woman was to lay every single reporter out right then and there. But if she started swinging her fists around up on the top floor of the Hokage Building not only would she generate terrible public rep, but in all probability, destroy the place. 

“And they say there is never anything good on.” Said an all-too-familiar male voice. You turned your head towards the source, eyes taking in the sight of Uchiha Itachi resting on the windowsill of the open window you forgot to put the screen back into. His longish black hair was tousled carelessly by the wind and his onyx orbs contained a spark of alert brilliance and exhilaration. He might’ve been up to something before he came here.

“Ah, good morning Itachi. I wasn’t expecting company, so pardon the pj’s.” You greeted. You noted that his gaze slid easily from your face downwards to examine what wasn’t covered by the blankets, but didn’t mind it at all. You were wearing a heather gray ribbed tank top that rode a little low around the cleavage and a pair of formfitting camo-green shorts, which were comfortable for bed, and besides you couldn't care less what he thought. Unless of course it was positive.

Itachi eased himself off the windowsill and padded towards the bed where he stopped to watch more of the debacle captured on camera. “This must be why I could not find you last night.” He remarked softly.

“Er yeah, I managed to get Zetsu to bring me to Konoha after all. I must admit, I had my doubts that he’d listen.”

“Me as well.” Itachi admitted. “Which is why I was surprised when I could not find you.”

“So to what do I owe the honor of your presence, almighty one?” You teased.

He didn’t acknowledge your question for a few moments, which you didn’t mind actually. Itachi always had a specific way about the way he handled things. He took his time and usually wasn’t in much of a hurry (unlike Sasori or occasionally Hidan), yet never delayed things to the point that he would be late. Part of why you particularly enjoyed this habit of his was because it was a nice change and gave you room to think and breathe as well. You seldom felt rushed around Itachi. It was comforting. 

“It is irrelevant." Itachi finally answered, sitting down without waiting for an invitation. You felt the bed dip with his weight. Your eyes shifted from the television screen to his back, watching his ponytail slide from his shoulder to lay upon his back when he turned his head.

“I missed something good, didn’t I?" A mischievous grin curled your mouth. "And by the way, next time I see you in my room in the morning without needing to answer the door, it better be because we fucked. Get it? Got it? Good.”

Itachi’s head snapped in your direction, starling-black hair splaying over the shoulder closest to you. Of all the responses, that was the one he _least_ expected. And the best part was that the look on his face progressed further into actual surprise since he could tell that you were _not_ pulling his chain. Either he had to use the door or, there was the aforementioned alternative. But given what he knew of your track record with intimacy, he'd have to proceed with caution.

“Understood.” He deadpanned warily, eyes upon your own, which darkened a shade since they mirrored his black ones. Nothing more was said; and both of you returned to the television where the screen was flickering between static and the image of multiple reporters clamoring to make statements and speculations before one another. The news was in the greatest uproar you had ever seen. For this being the type of world it is with how much chaos spawns between hidden villages and nations one would think that there would always be some harrowing tale aired each hour but, alas, such was not the case. As a kunoichi you considered 'boring' what a normal citizen would think of as 'terrible'. The years worth of atrocities you had committed and witnessed throughout your life was enough to desensitize anyone or otherwise scar one indefinitely. 

Judging from Itachi's expression and posture, it was the same for him. He was _far_ less impressed than you were.

At last, you arose from the bed, stretching and popping sleepy joints. “Stick around if you want but I have to shower and get dressed.”

“Do you have somewhere to go today?”

“Nah. I was planning on hanging out for as long as I can get away with it. You know Itachi, this might be some kind of break for the rest of you but I’ve been running around like a chicken with her head cut off since we got here. It isn’t very relaxing.”

He cocked his head, turning an eye in your direction over his shoulder. “That's _your_ fault.” He leaned against a pillow propped up against the mahogany-stained headboard of the bed. It was soundly bolted to the wall and didn't so little as squeak. In a hotel, that's a blessing.

“Yeah I know.” You said. “But it is one of those things that can’t be helped.”

“The idea of a break is to procrastinate on current missions for a mental holiday, you know.” Itachi responded dryly. 

“Yeah, yeah!" You called from the bathroom where you were rummaging through your bag of clothes. “If I don’t get stuff done right away it won’t _get_ done!”

“That's up to you.” He answered, tossing a blanket aside while searching for the remote. “I am nevertheless interested in your reasoning for attacking Shizune instead of the Hokage.”

“I’ll tell you after I shower.” You told him, poking your head out of the bathroom to answer. “If you’re still here that is.”

He tilted his head again. “You could tell me _while_ you shower. I wouldn't mind at all.” The second he said that you retracted your head back into the bathroom, thankful he couldn’t see the fiery blush burning your cheeks. “Ah…I’ll try to hurry!” You closed the door and tried to lock it. But alas, the lock was stuck and wouldn’t turn and close. Oh well. Itachi didn’t seem the type to peek and if you were quick enough about it then this wouldn’t be a problem. 

Or so you thought.  
After stripping down and tossing the pajamas and underwear next to your clean clothes you hung a towel over one of the transparent shower walls, stepped inside and regulated the water. After it was the temperature you liked, you situated yourself under the rain and started running your fingers through your hair, helping the water through each volume of black. You kept your eyes closed so water and soap didn’t get in them. 

You couldn’t hear the door creak over the running water. A set of onyx eyes peered deviously through the crack in the door. Itachi normally _wouldn’t_ try to look but he couldn’t help it after that comment about sex earlier. Plus, since that day when he saw you in torn clothes, he had been unable to easily press certain thoughts to the back of his mind. Maybe this would help get rid of those ideas; but it was a mistake. His hands gripped the door frame and door knob to prevent it from creaking further ajar, and his breath involuntarily hitched in his throat upon seeing all the dead white soap suds wash off your body. Presently; you were lathering your hair with shampoo that smelled sweet, but it was a scent he couldn’t place. His eyes trailed further over your naked form, disgusted with the water droplet-spattered glass walls and how they mostly distorted his view, but the shower was spacious enough where one and a half of the flat, non-textured glass walls weren't loaded up with those same beads of moisture. He leaned slightly to the side to obtain a better view. Itachi noted that despite what your curves and slim waist suggested from afar, your body must have lost any softness accumulated from less troubled years. There was muscle tone, though it was not yet well defined, and also he spied some very dull scars marking your skin in various places and shapes. The coloration indicated that most were quite a few years old, the faintest of these scars being a hair-thin one wavering down the length of your spine which, he decided, was probably from your rookie years since it was the dimmest of them all. It was so thin and close to your skin color that he noticed it by chance, when your back was closer to a glass panel. 

Those scars didn’t detract. They were evidence of hardship; that growing up in a wealthy family compound didn't protect you from the world as it did most people. Itachi had a few of them himself, each one so small that they were mere short, deep nicks from idiotic errors that he never made again in his very first years of training. While the cloud of women (and smattering of men) that stalked him would be the first ones to bandy about his perfection, Itachi didn’t consider himself so. And you weren’t either, nor did you claim to be...these were traits that he found attractive. You turned around and he was granted an partially restricted view of everything through the film of water on the shower walls and door. You flipped your hair back and groped for the towel, another hand grasping the water regulation knob barely within reach. You _always_ kept your eyes shut in the shower. When you were little, you kept your eyes open often and got shampoo in your eyes once or twice and the second time hurt so bad, you cried for a bit after the pain subsided, being a mere child. Ever since then it became a habit to shower blindly. Itachi thought of it as strange that you didn't even glance at yourself during the process, relying completely on touch and memory; yet he was grateful for it because he could stare at you all he wanted right now. He didn't permit himself many chances to get distracted by the opposite sex. 

Since you were now done, he carefully closed the door and went towards the bed. It had been twelve minutes but it felt like so much less. His mind ran over countless images of that crowd back in Konoha that adored him so and how many tried to make themselves presentable for him. The ladies looked plastic, without a single pore on their falsely tanned skin, a layer of blush on their makeup-masked faces to add what they thought of as the proper amount of color, and hair styled appropriately to their standards. Many (but not all) of them echoed the appearance of dolls, as fake as can be, with bras stuffed up so they appeared to be more chesty (admittedly, not only for him), and suppression garments or bandages pulled hurtfully tight beneath their shirts to hide those last several vanity pounds. What was with teenagers like that? Was that who they truly are as individuals, or do they merely try to figure out his preferences so they might echo them, some competition between classmates without end? Conversely, you never _tried_ to impress him, unlike those girls. You spoke to him like a person, not a pet or a god (as opposed to the fangirls who usually spoke to him as such, if they could speak at all) and oh yes, what he enjoyed the most: you had a fucking _brain_ behind that forehead of yours (unfortunately, that was a rarity these days). You spent more time training and working, less time focusing on the discreet trivialities of appearance…a shower, dry off, get dressed, and brush your hair; end of story. And you _still_ looked hot. There were many things that could be said for that. And you were able to take or leave his company which was even better. You weren’t needy. Gods, why were they all so _whiny_ and _needy_ and _helpless_? He left Konoha way back when, leaving behind all he knew, family, friends, comrades...and yes, a lover, but that woman wasn't much worth mentioning. She was a pretty, delicate thing with many secretive ways, and an overall gentle soul...but she couldn't handle most aspects of his life, and kept that to herself. Despite her best efforts to conceal her dismay at his dangerous profession, Itachi always knew his disappearance would be a relief for her. And he was relieved to be done with her, too.

Itachi chuckled inwardly at the remembrance, ignoring the clock in his thoughts and thus missing the fact that you moved in and out of the bathroom a twice already. You exited the bathroom a third time, pacing while brushing your hair and scrunching your face up upon encountering a couple snarls and knots all grouped together. Yay for hair conditioner, it made life so much easier, or at least it was supposed to. While pacing in and out of the bathroom, disentangling your hair, you noticed that Itachi wasn't looking _at_ the television, but _through_ it instead, and decided to try and get his attention. “Did I take long? Sorry, I couldn’t sit around and feel gross.”

“There is no need to apologize. And I didn't notice how long you took.” Itachi said, closing his eyes and resting his head back against the headboard. He looked tired and wan instead of brilliantly alert like he did before when you spotted him at the window. Perhaps because he had time for the adrenaline to thin out to nothing in his veins.

“Did you sleep?” You inquired, sitting down and putting your hairbrush aside. He shook his head.

“Why not?”

“Couldn't find a place to stay.”

“But Blueberry-kun did?”

“Kisame called in a favor and is staying with an acquaintance of his.”

You nodded, understanding. Kisame’s friend and favor, not Itachi’s. It would be presumptuous of him to think there’s a place for him to stay in a stranger’s home. There was probably more to it but you didn’t press the matter. “So what did you do all night?”

“I looked for a place to stay.”

You uttered a small, uneasy laugh and smoothed your hair back, then tied your hitai-ate around your neck, followed by taking a frayed roll of scarlet-dyed bandages from the bedside table and began wrapping them around a thigh (Itachi wondered if you had bandages in every color of the rainbow, he’d seen you don cerulean blue, black, purple, and white ones before also). You buckled your senbon holsters around this, there were four lined together on the same belt, each one was crammed full of needles. It was possible that each pack had a different type of poison needle. “Ah.” 

“People have come from all over for the tournament. I'm not surprised by this. Last time the city was practically full to capacity, there were teams camping out in the fields.”

“Uhm…” You stood up and went to the window so he couldn't see your face, folding your arms on the sill. “…This room is too big for me.” You said at last, mentally slapping yourself for acting before thinking. “You can stay with me, if you want. I don’t mind.” The Uchiha cracked an eye open for a minute, looked at your back, then closed it again. An interesting offer, and it didn't take long to consider an answer.  
“I accept.”

Part of you wanted him to refuse but the rest of you was biting down on that one reluctant portion; _‘You get to see him in his boxers each night until its time to leave this place, dummy! HELLLOO-OOOO! Duh! What’s not to like!?’_  
What’s not to like? Try the new attitude about Itachi, he was affecting you far too explicitly, bad pun intended.

More cute ideas were soon to follow.  
 _’He can be an accidental teddy bear!’_  
 _’And I can harass him all I want!’_  
 _’And he has to wash up at some time and the lock doesn’t work…’_

“Okay. So, make yourself at home. You should sleep.” You pulled the shades and turned around to face him. He shook his head and stifled a yawn. “If I did, then I'd become nocturnal.” It took a moment to sink in. Itachi cracked a _joke_? What the fuck! It was kind of weak but…cute. You turned and peeked outside to hide your grin, pretending to watch the city. A field on the outskirts which was once an empty tan swatch at this distance had erupted with a splotchy rash of color. The beginnings of tent city, apparently. 

“I would like it if you could help me stay awake.” Itachi admitted tiredly. 

“Sure thing.” You took a half step back from the window sill and whipped the shades back, illuminating the room. Itachi turned his head away, redness blossoming through his eyelids in the sunlight. “Come on! Off your ass, Uchiha. Let’s get moving!”

“Moving? Where?”

“Food equals energy, so come on!” You grabbed his arm and leaned back, trying to heave him off his rear end, but you only managed to make him shift his back from the headboard. Itachi is only a couple of inches taller than you are, but his build is deceptive. He's solidly built and he wouldn’t move if he didn’t want to. He opened his eyes and watched you pull at his arm, amused, until he cut you some slack and rose from the bed. You squeaked and nearly fell over but he grabbed your shoulder and steadied you.

“Thanks.” You said uncertainly and then walked towards the door. Itachi said nothing and followed. You grabbed your bag of tricks on the way by the table in the small kitchenette area and buckled it low around your hips. Today you weren’t wearing purple. A pair of pants tucked into your knee-highs, and a couple belts were slung low around your hips in addition to the belt laden with a few of those ‘bags o’ tricks’ (let us be frank; when it comes to shinobi that’s _exactly_ what those little packs are). Your top was two parts; a scarlet cap-sleeved shirt and a formfitting black t-shirt that ended an inch under the red one on top of it. You also wore matching scarlet mid-bicep-high half-finger gloves underneath a set of black metal vambraces. 

Itachi watched you grab your wakizashi and katana and fit them between some belts. “I still don’t really know my way around this place. Is there a good restaurant you know of somewhere?” While awaiting an answer you changed your mind and took the hitai-ate and wore it…le-fucking-gasp…on your forehead, so you could wear Hidan’s necklace instead. Noting that behavior, Itachi corrected himself; you _obviously_ care about your appearance, but it’s the clothes not the hair and makeup. Oh well, that was still better than you stuffing your bra with tissue paper or silicon and plastering on a copious amount of lipstick for the sake of being ‘attractive’. He didn't know your past, and how your mother especially enforced the 'pride in your appearance' paradigm. At the very least, you could go a day without wearing purple, now.

“We can look for one.” Itachi said in response to your query, following you out of the room. You were holding your Akatsuki cloak and then slipped it on your left shoulder, the right sleeve swaying behind as you leapt down the first set of stairs and landed gracefully. Since you’re wide awake and, let’s face it, there’s many flights of stairs ahead of you, there was no sense in walking it when you can jump instead. The rooftops weren't always the way to go, especially if one is tired. And while _you_ might be wide awake, Itachi wasn't. Yet.

“Saiya, you never answered me.” Itachi said once both of you were outside. “About?” You asked.

“I asked why you didn't kill Tsunade instead.”

“Oh!” You pulled at your cloak so it didn’t fall off your shoulder. “Tsunade isn’t the one I had a problem with. You know that, Itachi. And I didn’t notice if she was in the building but she probably wasn’t at that hour. Shizune was up working on her mission involving _me_ so actually, I figured she would be there late if I was lucky. And she was. She’s very diligent, as I figured she would be. All the information Shizune had with her was burnt, and Shizune herself…let it be said that they couldn’t air footage of her corpse without scarring all the kiddies for life.”

“I see.” He said. It made sense. Tactically, however, it would've made more sense to strike the Hokage when she's least expecting it, but then, Itachi was also relieved. He didn't _want_ the Leaf to fall apart at the seams. That's part of why he did what he had to do years ago. Except now Tsunade would be out for blood. So there would be repercussions, sooner rather than later in all probability. The Hokage's death would benefit Akatsuki tremendously and Itachi worried that Pein would've realized what you were up to and issue orders for the Hokage's assassination as well. You and Zetsu could probably do the job if necessary. However it was unlikely that it could be done without creating a scene of ridiculous and catastrophic proportions. Similar to how it was when Deidara faced off against Gaara.

You had nothing more to say and were blithely unaware to his thoughts. Walking alongside him, your eyes flickered across the crowd in keen interest. With the games at hand, all kinds of strange people flocked to this 'fair city', and it was a wonder that none of the nation superpowers attempted a raid. Though your thoughts changed when your stomach grumbled a second time, and your eyes switched to the shop fronts, trying to find a decent place to eat and occasionally stealing a glance at Itachi. He caught you each time, but it was alright. Usually it annoyed the living hell out of him that women ogled him at every turn ('Don't they have better things to do?') but he didn’t mind it so much with you. Actually, for the first time in forever Itachi was _enjoying_ the attention. Lately he felt more emotion towards you than he had for any other woman in awhile. Irritating and stupid pangs of various feelings, spanning from the day he saw Pein carrying you to your room after the Sound Nation mission; to the present time. Now he was mysteriously and profoundly irked that a newcomer, Tatsuo, was referring to you in a manner of great respect and watched you whenever your attention was focused elsewhere. It was innocent, but he didn't know the guy and didn't trust his intentions. Why should his intentions matter? You can handle yourself. Why did it bother him at _all_?  
Then, of course, was the instance when Itachi had problems controlling his emotions when he saw you in tattered clothes and immediately his imagination ran wild. He _still_ blamed it on a genjutsu; which he’d never bother asking you why you inflicted him with such a thing. Even though he knew, full well, that you were too weak to do anything of the sort at that point.  
It was all more crap he had to learn to bottle up so no one saw a flicker on the flawless, undisturbed surface they were all so accustomed to seeing. The 'perfect' Uchiha Itachi, child prodigy, bossing around people twice his age once he made Captain of Konoha’s ANBU Black Ops (while his classmates where still waddling through the thick of chuunin exams) and always mastering anything he attempted. Itachi was larger than life back then, and now he was even more of a legend since he’s in Akatsuki and a man that many have _not_ seen in years but _everyone_ has heard of. 

Then he encountered Gyaku Saiya, a medic whom is widely acclaimed as a prodigy herself and someone who also accomplished certain things at a younger age than most. Witness the Resurrection Jutsu, which took an old woman until her dying day to complete. Now that Itachi got to know you better, he encountered a problem: keeping the neglected emotions and physical urges packed away in their neat little box somewhere in a forgotten corner of his mind. The trademark poker face now required a modicum of effort. Why did any of this get under his skin at all? You can protect yourself. You've proven that on and off. But he couldn't shake it. He would have to use his time with you in Anarchy to examine this further and in detail.

“Earth to Itachi! Helloooo!” You snapped your fingers in front of his face and he blinked at you, wondering why you were suddenly walking backwards in front of him. 

“Yes?” He asked.

“Spaced out there! You okay?”

He nodded. Had he really been that out of it, thinking too much again?

“We walked by, like, _four_ okay-looking restaurants you know. How about that place?” You fell into step beside him and motioned ahead towards a ramen stand tucked against the side of the street. The interior was half hidden by a row of eight dull green canvas flaps. The flaps once acted as the sign for the business but were now too sun faded for one to read the characters once printed upon the fabric; and the rest of the stand was fairly large, built out of wood encrusted in peeling white, green and black paint. In a word, the ramen stand was unimpressive, and barely qualified as a 'stand' at all for its unusual breadth alone. But the locals were floating in and out with their takeout boxes despite the shabby appearance. If nothing else, go where the locals eat, and that's the part which caught your attention.

Itachi closed his eyes briefly in a prolonged blink to ebb the sun and dryness away, opened them, and then ducked under the first tired green flap he drew level with. You followed him in, out of the brightly antagonizing sun. By contrast it almost felt dark in here, though the interior was properly illuminated. Three stylized glass-and-steel lamps hung above a highly polished black stone counter, reflections playing off the lacquered surface. While the exterior of this stand was not particularly attractive, the inside was, by contrast, immaculately cared for. An older gentleman paid for his take-out and then left with a serene smile on his wrinkled, bristly face. A thin rivulet of fragrant steam floated in the air behind him, issuing from his carry-out container.

“Can I help you two?” A tiny voice asked. Your eyes moved from the menu board on the wall to a magenta-haired child sitting atop a stool behind the counter. Her hair was tied into two oversized buns with green, white and black ribbons and she wore a matching kimono which was clearly one and a half sizes too big for her. It reminded you of the kimono you tried to sew a long time ago for a relative when a festival in the Grass drew near. You weren’t great at it, even though your grandmother did her best to guide you.

“Water, please.” You sat down, blinking back up at the menu.  
“Sure!” She squeaked enthusiastically. “Anything else?”

“Bug me in a minute kid, I’m still deciding here.” You said, leaning against a palm. Itachi situated himself on the stool beside you and also perused the menu. 

“Uh, okay. Miki?” She turned around. “Water please!” There was a murmur of consent from the brunette dispatching a mound of chopped vegetables to a pan. Miki appeared quite ready to tell the squirt to get the drink herself but she was so short she needed help getting on and off her stool. The girl was there for customer service only so she could learn to appreciate the need to work for a living from an (unusually) early age. Her parents were ridiculously hard assed about their philosophies. 

“Saiya.” It was Itachi of course. You glanced at him. “Mm?”

“Have you given any though to what I asked you before?”

“Oh...that's right, yes. A bit.” You had a feeling it had to do with his brother. A puzzling request if ever there was one, because despite the indifference he wore every day, you did realize that he didn't contain as much animosity towards Sasuke as the world at large believed. No. He _loves_ the only family he has left. Coming from a man who slaughtered them all like cattle, it begs the question 'why?', but you knew better than to push him. If he wanted to share, he'd do so of his own volition.

“And?” He prodded calmly.

“Hmmm..." You hesitated, eyes wandering purposefully back to the menu. You had to be vague about the details in this _very_ public setting. It was not possible to know how many were on Sasuke's side, and where their ears may be listening. Already, you caught a few surreptitious glances from others nearby. This could also be due to the cloaks you each wore. “Considering where the 'client' is located, delivery might be an issue. Unless he meets me half way.” You sipped your water. It was so cold it felt like you swallowed a sharp ice cube which sliced the inside of your throat. “I have a few tricks up my sleeve, however. I think I can handle it. But it won't be easy getting there.” 

Itachi allowed a rare smirk and ordered his meal. You took another minute and a half before also deciding and ordering. 

“There's no simple way around it?” Itachi asked.

A hand went to your chin, resting upon the knuckles. “There _is_ , but…” You stalled, “…I don’t think it’d be possible to take that direction. With his attitude lately, it might be best for me to make that delivery before he knows I'm there..." You trailed off, eyes falling upon Itachi’s hypnotic, unfathomable obsidian orbs. He maintained eye contact thoughtlessly. Having known him for a while now, it didn't get any easier to hold his stare without faltering. Itachi has this austere quality; an effortless intensity, the ability to crush will with greatest ease. You took a sip of water, breaking from his gaze to watch the kitchen staff bustle around their microscopic workspace, filling meal orders and attempting not to gouge each other with their elbows and utensils. You feigned polite interest in their work, a vain attempt to avoid that tenebrous gaze.

Why'd it feel like he could swallow your soul?

You had to shake it off, maintain the conversation, and ignore the lump balling in your throat at the idea. At the concept of what he wanted you to _do_ to the brother he sacrificed so much for. “You know, right? He's been very rude lately, if we have another 'disagreement' like last time, I might hit him in the 'genetic legacy'."  
The other raised an eyebrow at you and swallowed a big gulp of his drink, and you turned your head away from him once more, checking over your opposite shoulder to see if anyone was listening. Why did Itachi's request ring so loudly inside your head, after all the things you've done? A party of four to your left got up and exited, having finished their meals. It was more safe to talk boldly now, without as much concern for being overheard. 

“Sasuke wants to fight you.” You said quietly, dropping the cryptic speak.  
“More to the point, he would like to kill me.” Itachi corrected.  
You wanted to roll your eyes, but did not. “Naturally. But you won't lose."  
"Of course not." He paused, nonchalantly running a finger up the side of his glass, collecting a bead of moisture. "However strong he believes his hatred to be, it's not enough."  
You shook your head, fingers turning the base of your glass in place, smearing a ring of water on the countertop. "His thirst for vengeance can only be quenched by blood. But, Itachi...if he managed to pacify that very thirst, what would remain in him? The hunt would be _over_. If he found nothing else in life, would he then be fulfilled and lifeless; with no more animosity to animate his corpus, left docile as a kitten?"

From out of your peripheral vision, you saw that he did not have his head turned in your direction. "It won't happen." He reiterated. Unless your ears deceived you, he remained adamant. The knowledge that if it were possible--that Itachi contrived his own fate by his brother's hands for nothing in the end, it would be hard to accept. But surely he took this also into account. Your lips curved gently, a smile which lacked melancholy.

“Good.”  
Itachi said nothing. Perhaps he was thinking.  
Just as intended.

You glanced around upon hearing someone slap the canvas away from their face as they entered the stand. “By the way, we should talk about the rest later, when we get to the hotel room. Someone might be listening. I've heard that your brother has eyes and ears and in many places.”

“’We’?” Asked Konan’s voice from behind. You stiffened. “Oh!! Hey Konan!”

“Hello Saiya-chan.” She greeted, watching you shrewdly. “And…’we’?”

“Yeah so what?!”

“She could not find a room. So I am sharing mine with her.” Itachi said. You flinched. Whaaaaat?! But it was the other way around! The brief glance he shot over warned you not to disagree. Was it an issue of male pride? Which is the type of pride you always thought to be the most fragile. You sighed, a hand stealing to your forehead, leaving partial fingerprints on the sliced metal of your headband. “Yeah, all these hotels and inns and motels and not a single room to spare.” You went along with it, silently cursing the man beside you. He was going to get it later. Payback is a bitch.

“I didn’t think you had a nice streak in you, Itachi.” Konan mused, sitting down on your other side. “I thought I heard you two talking in here.”

“Hunger had nothing to do with it?” You asked.  
“It did, somewhat.” Konan answered earnestly. “But the other part of it is that I’d like to speak with you.”  
“And what’s that?”  
“Later, and we’ll be going to _my_ room, so we can be private about our conversation.”  
You giggled at her pointed tone and accepted the bowl of ramen you ordered. It smelled and looked excellent so you dug into it immediately, ignoring the squirt’s warnings that it was piping hot. Though you didn’t look up to see who handed you the food, you did notice that his leathery tan hands were trembling as they retracted. _Now_ you looked up, seeing the same guy put Itachi’s food down in front of him. He tried to avert his eyes away from both of you. The fear there was so noticeable you could practically smell it over the food scents amassing in the room. Squirt watched him and tilted her ribbon-adorned head. “Are you cold Hideki?”  
“N…no. I’m not. I-I’ll j-j-just…get…the…” He stuttered, moving away as fast as he could and ducking through the abnormally small doorframe into the back room where supplies were undoubtedly kept. He could feel three sets of criminal eyes roasting his back and it was a disgustingly uncomfortable sensation. “To think I never thought that would grow tiresome.” You commented blandly.

“I used to believe the same thing but it _does_ get old after awhile.” Konan said mildly.  
“I like it.” Itachi added his two cents coolly, picking up a slice of meat with his chopsticks. “It means that they will leave me be.” He popped the piece of food into his mouth and munched quietly.

“Yeah, that’s true.” You snorted. He did have a point. “It _does_ come in handy that way.” 

“Earlier Pein and I went into a shop for some supplies and…I swear it’s true, this is too idiotic to make up…” Konan began, laughing and interrupting herself in doing so. “…He stuck his hand into his cloak to get his wallet and the entire room cleared out. The cashier even ran away…then he didn’t bother taking his wallet out and said, calm as can be, ‘I guess it’s free, then.’”

You laughed and Itachi continued eating, though he listened. “They probably thought he was getting out a weapon. It’s pretty hilarious how people react when you act civilized. What do they take us for, anyway? We’re rogue ninja, not sociopathic slobs who don’t know how to use a napkin.”

“Yeah. Ten they act all, ‘Told you so’ when one of us pulls something off like you did the other day, Saiya.” Konan said with a grin.

“Oh come on! I had to blow off some steam. What’s wrong with that?” Speaking of steam, you paused to blow off a vegetable that was flourishing with hot steam that you picked up from the center of your bowl. “ _I_ don’t think there is anything wrong with it.” Konan replied. “But that incident made quite a statement. Roughing up drug lords the second we arrive, it's surprising to say the least." 

" 'Roughed up' nothing! I, madam, _butchered_ those swine." You objected haughtily, and twirled some noodles idly around the chopsticks, watching them trail around in the fragrant broth. "Besides, If Deidara didn’t go and act like a little bitch then it wouldn’t have happened, know that?”

Konan placed her order then frowned slightly, ignoring the bravado. “What happened with that anyway?”

“Good question.” Itachi remarked softly before taking a drink.

“I’m still figuring it out, but maybe you two can shed some light on the situation.” You said. Irritation burbled in your gut where the butterflies used to live, and you ate some ramen before launching into the explanation. “After Pein-sensei talked to me on the first day here, Deidara showed up, was eavesdropping I suppose...and confirmed that it is wise to be careful about Sasori. Then I tried to strike up a conversation with him but he bit my head off. Deidara didn’t give me a chance to defend myself or anything and told me to leave him alone. Then I figured he was being that way because he didn’t get me into bed or something, I don't what it was, but he did come onto me an awful lot. It’s not like we were going out or anything, I used to spend plenty of time around him to get to know him better…I wanted to know _everyone_ better so I could work with everybody more easily. But I wasn’t aware Deidara saw me that way until one day.”

“What happened on that day?” Konan asked, always being one to gather the facts. She was mindlessly folding and refolding and shaping a sheaf of white paper. You had no clue what she was making, but it was complicated.  
“We didn’t really do much because Hidan and Kakuzu walked by and the door was wide open. Yeah, you know what? I think it was because Deidara and I didn’t really do much at all that he got frustrated and snapped at me.”

“Deidara is one to lose interest in something quickly.” Itachi said. “It is a rarity when he maintains his curiosity in regards to one thing in particular, or a person in this case.”

“His art style is an indication to that.” Konan added. “Think about it. ’Art is a bang’, isn’t that what he always says? He doesn’t want art to last, he prefers that it go out in a shower of sparks. You aren't one of his sculptures, but you get the idea.”

You snorted derisively. “Yeah? Except he gave me some interesting advice too. It would appear he _wanted_ me to stick around for awhile.”

“He did, yes.” Konan answered. “He talked to me about that before. That day when you talked about killing Sasori, he panicked because he didn’t realize you’d actually go through with it.”

“I heard him say that I shouldn’t be left alone. He sounded real emotional over it, the fucking pansy.” You grunted, stirring noodles around your bowl again before swirling some together around the chopsticks and eating them. This may not be the proper method, but you didn't care anymore.

“That’s right.” Konan confirmed. “It was abnormal for him to act that way.”

“I was not there to witness any of that and I can already explain it.” Itachi submitted calmly. 

“What’re you waiting for, an engraved invitation?” You asked irritably. 

He ignored your increasingly abrasive disposition. This subject was not far enough away from you to put it away and never think on it again, so it was expected for you to be openly upset. “Deidara and Sasori might disagree often but they are partners above all else. They were paired together due to their talents and personality, believe it or not.” Itachi began. “Understand that there is no two people in the world better suited to work with them than each other. Now also take into account the fact that Deidara and Sasori are far more loyal to one another than they appear. When you spoke of killing Sasori, then Deidara would panic. He can not lose someone so valuable at this juncture. And lest it be forgotten, Deidara respects Sasori in his own way." Itachi said, pausing to take a bite before continuing. He didn't enjoy hearing what you had to say before. But now you had to sit still and endure the same thing; to hear what you needed to, but didn't want to.

“Perhaps I am wrong in assuming that he was more worried about Sasori than you, Saiya. How I see it is that Deidara wanted to fuck and leave you; or turn you into one of _his_ art pieces, instantaneous though they are, if he had the chance. Their relationship is complicated. If Sasori must be slain Deidara would want that death on _his_ hands, not yours…again, once the opportunity presented itself.” 

You and Konan paid rapt attention. This was coming from one whom seemingly ignored what didn't involve him and went on about his business, minding his own p’s and q’s. Except he took in a startling amount of accurate information when one thought he was preoccupied and stuck up. Quiet Itachi was regurgitating facts that _both_ yourself and Konan completely ignored. 

“Now,” Itachi began again after taking a sip from his glass. “Saiya has proven herself invaluable to Akatsuki.”

“Yeah, he gave me that exact piece of advice.” You interjected in the sluggish manner of one completely stunned by the truth. Your chopsticks were forgotten, resting against the lip of the bowl.

“This may be so but Deidara knows that Leader can use _any_ jutsu as the Sage of the Six Paths, and if he does not know one, he can learn it. I am able to do the same, however, I admit that I can't perform every jutsu conceived. Because of that reason no one person is irreplaceable unless they possess a trait which Leader _does not_ and _can not_ have. Sharingan, for example.”

Both of you nodded in agreement, signaling that you followed his line of thinking. Konan was yet more impressed, but held back on letting him know, if his keen eyes didn't detect her approval already. Pein's act is tricky to follow, but part of why they included Itachi in Akatsuki is _because_ not much escapes him. His ability to think ahead is nothing short of incredible.

Itachi went on.

“So Saiya, in theory you would only remain invaluable until Leader learned your medical jutsus. However, no one knew that you were Leader’s student. Also in the event that he dies-“ He cut off upon noticing the flicker of annoyance on Konan’s face. He nearly smirked. “Surely such a travesty shall never occur, “ He continued smoothly, having glossed that over. “She would be able to revive him. This is another thing that makes you irreplaceable if you are guarded properly, Saiya.”

“Uh-huh, go on.”

He did. “Deidara by now would have seen that not only is there never going to be an opening to get rid of you, but something else must have occurred where you showed unwillingness to let him bed you. Is that so?”

“Yeah.” You admitted. Why did it feel like you were naked in public? What was with all the vulnerability today? “He wanted to move really fast, judging from his actions. But I wouldn’t let that happen.” You smirked. “I liked to bust his ass a lot and tease him. That probably helped a lot huh?”

“You tease _everyone_.” Konan pointed out blandly, making you break into a fit of nervous laughter. The discussion didn't stop being embarrassing yet. 

“Nevertheless there is one more thing I feel I should say about Deidara. Though he will kill people he doesn’t like for the sake of a mission, it is possible he would help prolong a person’s life if he truly hates them, so that they don't go out with a ’bang’.”

Your jaw fell ajar and you stared at Itachi.  
“And how do you know this for certain?” Konan asked suspiciously.  
“I am the one who forced him to join Akatsuki am I not? I had to spend awhile observing Deidara, however it was not very long. He is an easy man to read. _Everything_ about him is loud and clear.”  
“I don’t know about that Itachi, I got the impression that he really liked her.”

“In all likelihood it's her body he wanted, not her mind.” Itachi said. “I am sure you have noticed the way some people look at her, Konan, being her friend.”

At first, Konan was practically speechless, and wanted to be disgusted, but with all her smarts chose to rationalize it instead. She never dwelt upon it, but having been the only woman in Akatsuki would've earned her more unwanted attention if she permitted herself to be more accessible. But, since she was so close to Pein, Konan was completely off limits. Surely, the men there would have become lonely, but as far as she was aware, none of them were homosexual. When she considered it, this made sense. A woman turns up that is easier to get involved with, and if any of them considered that very same woman even _remotely_ attractive, why _wouldn't_ they try to get down her pants? 

“Come again?” Konan asked incredulously at last, craning her neck so she could see across you to Itachi. You were looking at him too. Itachi turned his head towards you, placid onyx eyes focusing on your shocked amethyst ones. “I would know.” He murmured under his breath, lips hardly moving. Abruptly, the sensation of being bared to the world was gone. What was he _saying?!_

Konan looked as though someone could knock her over with a feather. Itachi was attracted to someone and admitting it in public? Holy shit! Better yet, you didn’t exactly look as though anybody was home in that head of yours. Konan wondered if you didn’t hear Itachi say what he did a moment ago. Oh yeah, and then there was the frighteningly accurate-sounding onslaught of info both of you just absorbed from him. 

“So Saiya it is very wise to be cautious about both Sasori _and_ Deidara.” Itachi concluded, catching your attention effortlessly. “Since Deidara has likely met with the realization that he cannot get what he wants, he may turn to assisting Sasori with his plans for you.” 

“But why would he become so suddenly disinterested in his plans for her if there is still a chance, one coming up very soon? There is the mission involving the junchuuriki after the tournament, Pein and I were talking about it.” Konan said. “Saiya?”

“Huh?” You answered dazedly.

“How exactly did you treat Deidara when both of you were alone together?”

“I…” You began, then sighed. “…I’m not comfortable with discussing the explicit details of what we _did_ but I…I dunno.”

“Okay I’ll simplify it.” Konan said. “What was the rudest thing you said to him last in private?”

You considered this question whilst collecting ramen broth in the ceramic spoon provided with the bowl. But hunger had fled from you. “I think it was, ‘get out of my room, it’s time for me to make dinner.’ Or something like that. I...I just...didn't want him to get the wrong idea, and I suppose I didn't think it through. How that sounded, I mean." You halfheartedly raised the spoon to your mouth. "He had to understand, I'm not easy."

“I see.” Konan answered. “That isn’t so bad.”  
“As you both know I’ve said a lot worse.” You admitted. "I could be forgetting something I said, not sure."  
“I know you were fairly foul-mouthed towards him whenever he pranked you around the rest of us.” Konan said.  
“Perhaps he grew tired of her attitude.” Itachi offered, pushing his bowl aside and getting out the money. You slapped his hand down to the counter and fished out your own wallet. “You’re providing _’our room'_. And you also shared a lot of information with us. Lunch is on me today. You too, Konan.” You placed particular emphasis on the first part. This was a means to maintain the lie.

“Thanks Moneybags.” Konan teased.  
“Nah. Thank _you_." You sighed and reiterated, more sincerely. "Thank you both. For not judging me, also.” The vulnerability displayed wasn't fully unexpected. You may have poisoned, maimed, murdered, tortured and mass-slaughtered innocents, but you have feelings too. Truly. Today was a day brimming with conversations of which you weren't overly fond.

Itachi looked down at the hand resting over his. “Were the situation altered, I would have handled your mouth differently, Saiya.”

“Huh?”

Konan exploded with laughter. “Oh no, Itachi! Shame on you!”

“You have no idea what I was thinking.” The Uchiha defended calmly, unperturbed.  
“I don’t NEED you to tell me.” Konan shot back smugly. “I’m stealing Saiya now. You two can talk later. In _your_ bedroom---er, hotel room.”

You paid and got up, pointedly ignoring the comments. “Fan-fucking-tastic, I bought my kidnapper’s lunch.”

“And your rapist’s lunch too.” Konan added.  
You turned to look at Itachi but he disappeared without a trace from his seat as if on cue.  
You blushed and pulled your cloak onto your other arm too and buttoned it so that the high collar partially hid the color in your cheeks.

“He is _not_ my rapist. I _have_ no rapist.” You muttered to Konan.  
“Oh I’m sorry, you’re right.”  
“Thank you.”  
“It’s impossible to rape the willing after all.”  
“HEY!”  
“This way, please. Now that we have no men around we can talk on the way there.” Konan motioned for you to follow her. You grumbled, grudgingly tugging the collar higher. Damned blue-haired bitch. Fuck her for being right. Once both of you came into the sunlight you followed her. “So, what?”

“When’s the last time you cut loose and acted your age?” Konan asked nonchalantly. 

“Never. Why?”

“It’s been forever for me. I'm not your age, but I’m a living breathing woman. And I feel the need to express that since we’re on break.”

“Uh?”

“You don’t get it?” 

“Nope.” You answered. Konan was prepared to respond but she fell short and shook her head. “We’ll talk when we get to my room. One of the guys might be listening after all.”

“They could listen at your door if they wanted, you know.”

“I am well aware of that but they won’t. They are not that stupid.” Konan informed you confidently. “Come on!” She broke into a run and you followed. It was pretty fun to dodge around all the helpless passers-by since quite a few of them were too lazy or slow, while others were simply caught off guard by a pair of speeding kunoichi. You both arrived at Konan’s place, which was actually a very small house. It sprawled on one floor and was tucked away in a place where no other homes sat on the outskirts, situated behind quite a few trees. The sea wasn’t far away from the sound of it. “Does anyone know about this place?” You asked her.

“Most of the others do. It’s a safehouse for anyone from Akatsuki to use actually, but I beat the others to it this round. Last time Kisame got to it first. Usually only one of us stays here.”

You nodded. “I see, this must be why everyone raced off so quickly when we got here.”

“Sort of. Come in.” She unlocked the door and stepped inside. “How are you feeling by the way? You seemed shell-shocked after Itachi said his bit.”

“I’m okay.” You told her. “Not great, but okay. I’ll do something about Deidara and Sasori, no worries. It’s not as though I walk around with blinders on.”

Konan smirked, closing the door after you, locking it, and tossing the keys into the teeny tiny kitchen and onto the table against the wall in there. They skidded a couple inches on the surface and nearly toppled off the edge. 

“Oookaaay, we’re here, what’d you want to talk about?” You asked. Konan beckoned you with one finger for you to follow her. “Come on. We’re going to my room.”  
“I’m not bi-curious anymore remember?”  
“Just come!” You snickered and followed her. “Okay, okay! Damn.”  
“Sit down if you want.” Konan said. “So here is what I wanted to say. Actually the discussion begins with a question.”  
“And what would that be?” You inquired, settling down on the full sized bed and watching her walk between the foot of the bed and the closet, heading towards the one window in the room. She folded her hands and looked out of this window, which you noticed overlooked the vast hump of a hill and saw the immense blue sea beyond it, stretching out forever. A handful of trees grew on either side of the window also. The stillness and quiet out here was eerie as opposed to the hustle and bustle of Anarchy. You had been here under a week and already grew accustomed to the volume. _Home_ , rather, the Akatsuki lair was fairly peaceful. With, of course, the exception of intermittent bangs and booms from Deidara’s general direction, also punctuated by the hiss and clang of metal on metal from the training rooms when one drew close enough to hear. The clatter of human misery and steel bars within the dungeon was contained so well that you didn’t know it was there until one day you were called to the interrogation room. There was no place like home, Anarchy proved it to you…yet, you still felt comfortable enough here in the nameless city. You could do whatever the hell you wanted and not have to watch out for ANBU to come barking up your tree like the pack of trained attack dogs they are.

Konan turned towards you and sighed, attracting your attention from the view through the window, and then shook her head at something in her own mind as she began undoing the fastenings of her cloak. “When was the last time you acted your age?”  
She afforded you a sad look. “How _old_ are you Saiya?”

“What’s the point? I’m afraid I don’t follow.”

“Ah.” She pulled her cloak off and dropping it on one corner at the foot of the bed. Her clothes weren't what you'd expect from her personality. Her revealing top, navel piercings...all so foreign, since you never saw her without the Akatsuki robe. There'd been one instance, but you weren't very awake then. “I mean to say, when is the last time you went out clubbing or bar-hopping or anything like that? Have you stopped being a kunoichi long enough to treat yourself?”

“I went to the bar not long ago.” You said, puzzled. “What raises this question?”

“Because we’re on break. This is a mental holiday. You ought to relax. Pein also told me to take a load off for awhile. I thought I was going insane when he told me to leave my work alone until we’re back at HQ, but he was quite serious. Even _Pein_ is hanging around somewhere doing nothing.”

“So you want to go out is what you’re saying?” You asked.

“Yes.” She brightened, smiling at you and sitting down on the bed also. “I know of a night club, not just anyone is permitted entry but it isn’t completely exclusive clientele either. We’d be able to get in. I know the owner well. Usually she doesn’t let anyone prone to starting a fight in so you need to keep a level head on your shoulders when we get there Saiya. I know how you can fly off the handle.”

“Yeah yeah yeah.” You grumbled.  
“Do you have anything to wear?” She asked.  
“I’m not naked am I?”  
Konan gave a short laugh. “Ahaha…no, no you aren’t, but we’re going to the club. You dance, drink, socialize...and should dress special for this place.”

“But I’m not trying to impress anybody!” You protested uselessly. Konan had you beat already, and how was that so? Because she was one stubborn woman and you already could tell that she didn’t plan on giving in and letting you go from this one. “Konan what if the others are there? Lord, I’d never ever live it down if they saw ME in a miniskirt.” Konan’s eyes flickered towards the Jashin charm hanging around your neck and raised an eyebrow. “’Lord’?”

“There’s a story behind it.”  
“I have time.”  
“We’ll talk about it over dinner after we shop for clothes.”  
“’We’? What if I have something already?” Konan teased.  
“I don’t give a fuck; if I have to suffer through clothes shopping then you’re suffering with me.”  
“Misery _does_ love its company, eh?”  
“I’d say it insists upon it.”  
“Especially since you’re a sadomasochist now.”  
“’Assume’ makes an ass out of you and me, Konan.”  
“…”  
“Was that all?”

Konan reached up and pulled her origami flower out of her hair, then set it down atop her cloak. She appeared thoughtful, organizing ideas and plans and thoughts in her mind like usual. “Why were you with Itachi? Normally people avoid inflicting themselves with his presence you know.” You watched her take her hair out of its up-do’ and run her fingers through it, eyes closing lazily as she did so.  
“He visited me this morning.” You told her, deciding to spill. Might as well. You never did care what others saw in the things you did. It was one of the few things your family taught you that you carried through your life always. 

“And?” She prodded, continuing to work her fingers through her blue hair, which was full of waves because it had been pulled back so tight.  
“We talked, and-“ You cut off, remembering what Itachi said about sharing _’his’  
_ room with you. “-I thought it’d be kind of dumb to walk off when he was nice enough to offer a place to stay.”

“That doesn’t explain why you’d sleep in the same bed as him. Or are you?” Konan prodded, watching you intently. She was deeply interested in why Itachi would do this. Or was it for you at all? That’s the question, isn’t it?

“I saw a couch, I could sleep there but he hasn’t told me to. We’ll see what happens won’t we?” You disliked maintaining the façade, but let the male keep his pride, even if your own was being walked on a bit for it. But all you had to say to yourself was, ‘Itachi in the shower’ and it was all good. This would be worth it one day.

“But _why_?”

“Ever since I saw him strip down to his boxers, it was love at first sight? Nah.” You folded your arms behind your head and leaned back against one of the two pillows propped against the wall, since there was no headboard. “I needed a place to stay since I couldn’t find one. You should've seen me; I was exhausted from wandering around all night, every place was booked solid, some were _over_ booked, and I was too tired to persuade them. But hey, Itachi offers, I accept, he’s gorgeous and all…eye candy and a place to sleep. Sweet deal, I say. And I don’t have to open my purse for it.” You shrugged. “I also enjoy Itachi’s company as a person, not strictly as a piece of meat. I’ve grown comfortable around him unlike most people." You were embarrassed, and tried a smile. It came out strained and almost broken. Again, she could see that there was still vulnerability in you. Not everyone is iron solid on the inside. It was almost heartwarming. “Is there something wrong with that?"

“No there isn’t.” Konan answered slowly, searching your eyes, distantly wondering if she'd catch a lie. But she didn't try too hard to find one. If you wanted to keep a secret, that was your prerogative. “So the bottom line is that he is attractive to you?”

You returned her gaze for a long time. You wanted to leave the uncomfortable talk behind at the ramen stand, but it seemed you would not be spared. “Yes. Haven’t I been saying that all along?”

“Why was it so hard to admit right away?”

“Because…well, I never thought I’d have this conversation with anyone. We both wanted to keep the hotel room situation quiet so no one made a big deal out of it. Plus, there's something else that's been on my mind." Konan's inclined eyebrows encouraged you to explain. She was here to listen. Not many did that for you, it was a foreign concept. Deidara tried before, but he had an ulterior motive. Like most men. In remembrance of that, you lowered your voice, ashamed. "I've gotten into a few situations where I thought I might lose my virginity if I let it go on unhindered. With more than one guy, at that." Realizing how that must sound, you hastily added, "Not all at once."

"But it never got that far." She said, listening. There was no trace of disgust in her posture. 

"That once with Deidara I told you both about. And I think I mentioned how Sasori acted when I revived him, but later on during our training, outside, we got into a...'situation'...and next thing I know, I realize where it's going and stop...with the worst reason I could muster, may I add." Konan nodded silently, continuing to listen while you spilled your guts. "And then, the other night after that fight I had with those assholes at the arena, I found a bar and ran into Hidan there. We got really...I mean _extremely_ drunk, and I think we must've become loud and irritating because this bouncer guy grabs us both and drags us away, I don't remember too much of the night after that. The next morning I wake up with Hidan in a room, and we're almost naked, but we didn't have sex. Probably because we passed out. I was partially dressed...pants on for sure, and I think he was the same way." You bit your lower lip, met Konan's patient gaze, and were prickled with more nettles of guilt. "And now I'm staying in the same room as Itachi. Does all of this make me a slut?"  
Konan didn't hesitate to answer. "Absolutely not. There's women out there who do far worse for less. At least you had to sense to stop when you realized what was happening. It sounds more or less like you teased them and pushed them too far with nowhere to go, that's all."

"I have no idea what to do with men." You declared. "And I don't want to apologize for any of my actions. But in hindsight, it's probably more fuel on the fire, another couple of things that pissed them off. I don't want that to happen with Itachi, if anything happens between us. I told you how much I like him. I want it to work out."

“Part of the problem is that you haven't done the thing so many have. It’s about time for you, I say.” Konan declared, getting up.  
“About time for what?”  
“Oh…you know.” She winked.  
“No, I don’t.” You raised your eyebrows at her.  
“You will, Saiya. When you're ready.” It was astonishing. At your age, and _still_ intact? It's a good thing, but Konan wasn't sure she really believed it until now. Even shinobi hard at work find time to screw around. There were aspects of your personality that, (most would think) fundamentally do not coincide, but you defy common logic on a regular basis. 

You rose from where you sat and motioned towards Konan’s cloak with the origami flower sitting atop it. “Come on, get ready and we'll go. I want to get this damned shopping trip done with ASAP.”

“I’m ready but you aren’t.” Konan said, deciding to run her hairbrush through her hair once more.  
“Huh? Yeah I am.”

“Take that cloak off, and your pack and katana and wakizashi. Our hands are enough for self defense if the need arises. We aren’t kunoichi right now. Today we are two women out to have some fun. We’re going to try this normalcy thing out for a change, okay?” 

You goggled at her, totally dumbfounded. “Okay.” You removed the things she enumerated. Were either of you capable of being 'normal'? It was an opportunity to try it out. It was strange to be unarmed, but its amazing how heavy a burden a single blade can become. And you carried two of them. 

“And the bracers. Take those off too.” Konan added upon seeing the black metal glittering in a bar of sunlight filtering through the window, and reiterated her point. “Hands only. Those are lethal weapons enough.” You nodded, removing the six senbon holsters and then unwrapping the scarlet bandages beneath. “Wow Saiya. You really _are_ a walking arsenal.”

“Hah! Who said something like that?” You laughed. 

“Deidara I think.” She answered distractedly. “Sasori, Deidara and I were talking about some things and weaponry was one of the topics…oh I know, it was when I was catching up with them on their progress reports since you resurrected them.” She smirked. “I don’t quite remember how it got brought up but Deidara ended up saying something like, ‘Yeah, but Saiya’s a walking arsenal. Have you seen how many senbon holsters she has on plus the wakizashi? And then there’s the other crap too, like her jams and jellies…un.” She added his speaking habit at the end with a funny screwed-up look on her face and one eye closed, deepening her voice to try and mimic that of a man’s but failing spectacularly.

‘”JAMS AND JELLIES?” You echoed with your eyes wide and voice raised a few octaves higher than normal. “What!?”

“He means your poisons and other bio weapons you carry around.”

“I could figure that one out genius!” You were incredulous, and scoffed derisively. Was that what he really thought? "'Jams and jellies', indeed...I will have you know that those very same 'jams and jellies' took me years to develop and can turn his pathetic innards to liquid shit!"

”It seemed fitting, got a good laugh out of Sasori and I, I will admit it. You do cook a lot.”

“Yeah blah blah.” You doubted that was what he referred to. How _rude_ of him to make light of the very bio-weapons that took you so long to refine into a useful format--all done in secret, at that. But enough of that. Konan was ready to leave. “Let’s go?” 

“Please.” You popped up to your feet and followed her. It was so strange not to wear the cloak in public, but it was nice. You felt freer to move without the packs and belts and weaponry.

The stores you visited were bustling with activity in some of them but not all. Weaving through the crowd and noticing glints of steel on and off, you felt fricking _naked_ without your weapons. But that discomfort fell away once you got shopping with Konan. Right now you were both tossing random articles of clothing over dressing stalls, coming out, snorting at your appearances or perhaps feeling more satisfied with the looks of whatever you changed into…it became fun, something you never thought possible when it came to clothes shopping. “Oh we’re so lucky Saiya-chan. We can both wear almost anything!”  
“Yeah right!” You snorted. “I can’t carry off every color though. Here, try this one.” You flopped a vibrant orange and black top over the door of her stall. She yanked it down on her side and stared at it in disbelief, which became tangible in the air. “What?” You asked. “Go on it won’t eat you!”

“Why don’t I wear a sandwich billboard saying ‘HELLO I AM HERE!’ instead of this thing?”

“Oh come on. Shut it and try that top on already!”  
“No.”  
“You shoved me into that god-awful pink thing earlier!”  
“So!?”  
“Put that on before I do it for you!!!”

Konan resigned herself to the horrific fate of wearing a orange and black shirt which turned out to look better on her than it did on the hanger. “And?” She came out and smiled at you. “Happy? I’m wearing it.” She turned on one heel and went back in, door snapping shut behind her.

“See? It’s not so bad.”  
“Neither was the pink.”  
“Actually that was like a bad train wreck. I couldn’t stop staring at it.”  
“That’s bull! You liked it!” Konan retorted, hopping on one foot in her stall again to get a pair of pants off. “

“I so did _not_. Can we stop arguing about it already?”  
“Mhm.” She came out of the stall and hung several unwanted shirts, pants and skirts on a rack that was a hodgepodge of things no one else wanted either in the fitting area. “Your turn.” But your eyes were on the clock behind the register across the room. “We’ve been doing this for two hours?”

“Time flies doesn’t it?” She nudged you into the dressing stall with the handful of clothes you picked off the racks while waiting. “So I never really asked what kind of things you wear to a club. I thought we were trying random shit on until we found something we liked.”

Konan's answer was simple and, to a degree, predictable. “Dress sexy.”  
“Eh?”  
“You heard me.”  
“I don’t know _how_ to dress sexy…to me, that’s...I dunno, a towel. And I am NOT going to the club in nothing but a towel!”

Konan chose to ignore this and walk away to another rack, eyes wide with the effort of keeping her mouth shut. “Oh look at this one Saiya! And it’s your size too!” She said loudly before you said another word about moist bodies and towels. “Here try it on!” She thrust the little black garment into your hands and shoved you into the dressing stall. “Go on, hurry!” 

“But…I…HEY! Oh come on!” You sputtered, and then sighed in defeat. What was so bad about what you said? You didn’t get it at all! Nevertheless, you tried the thing on and once you turned around in the mirror, gave your reflection the once-over. “Hey. I really like this one Konan.” You glanced around at the hooks lining the wall, and the one on the door, each one was laden with several hangers of clothes. You picked through these and found the perfect little leather skirt that would go with many things, but with the one you wore now, it looked incredible. In addition to turning this skirt away earlier for being leather (and therefore, binding), it was one and a half inches higher than you liked. Konan called you a prude for that one. And she’d probably refer to you as ‘prude’ as a description of your personality for the rest of your natural life if you turned this outfit, too. Considering her personal style, she could afford to tease you.

"Let me see it?” Konan called through the door.  
“Before I do, get me those knee-high boots I showed you earlier!”  
“Really? Okay.” She walked off and came back a minute later and shoved the box under the door for you. You snatched the box up, sat down on the bench against the wall opposite the full-length mirror, and yanked the boots on. You stood back up and looked yourself over again after lacing these up. It was very flattering on you because of your size…the shirt was like a cross between a corset and a tank top and was composed of black lace over midnight blue, however, it was not a functional corset. It merely laced up in the front, end of story, no breast up-pushing involved. It was not as binding as it looked and, (you were thankful for this part), wasn’t as low-cut as it appeared on the hanger…but it was displayed a little cleavage, nevertheless. This was more cleavage than had ever seen the light of day ever before in your whole life (and really, it was nothing compared to what other women display, Konan included). “This would look nice with some lace leggings and _maybe_ those elbow length fingerless gloves from earlier. I hope this doesn't make me look like a street walker." You commented over the door to Konan, who grumbled almost impatiently. “I would like to see this thing I handed to you to shut you up that you actually _like_.”

“I know you didn’t look.” You opened the door and stepped out into the open, twirling and pausing to see her suddenly blank expression. “Out of all the things we looked at…you like THAT?” 

“Yes!”

“And you can walk in those things, and dance in them? You might break an ankle you know.”

You looked down at your feet. They were deadly boots alright. You were used to wearing some form of a heel though, since you didn’t always wear the standard flat-soled shinobi sandals. If you could fight in heels, you sure as hell were confident that you could dance and walk whilst wearing higher ones. “These aren’t _that_ tall, and hey, if I break my ankle so what, I can fix it…small price to pay for savage kicks like these babies! I’ve never seen any like them elsewhere.”

“That’s because not everyone can wear them without looking foolish.” Konan heaved the heaviest sigh yet today. “Finally. We've gotten you something to wear." It was kind of gothic, but still, as far as the 'sexiness' factor, it didn't even _approach_ how bad the other women at the club would be. She'd been to this place before, and if you weren't comfortable with displays of skin, it wasn't the wisest place to go. That being said, the no-nonsense owner also didn't permit certain 'business transactions' within her establishment. Last guy caught trying to find a drugs and a prostitute there got kicked to the curb _fast_.

She shrugged. “So are you going to get that?”  
“Yep.” You walked back into the dressing room and took the clothes and shoes off, put your own on, and came out holding the box of killer boots with the dark clothing folded nicely atop it. “Your turn!”

“Sure.” Konan looked to be dreading this part. She had tried things on as much as you had today but she was not finding a damned thing that fit her criteria. She had much more confidence in her body than you did in yours so she didn’t toss off a skirt because of its height or anything (unless it was one of those that would show your ass if you bent over). Another store later she’d find what she wanted while you picked out things for her to try. Konan was planning on wearing something not as dark as your outfit.

And now, after you shopped and shopped and shopped…indeed, it was time to drop!

Both of you collapsed into chairs at a table within the nearest restaurant, baggage piled on the two unoccupied chairs beside each of you. “Whew! Shopping is draining, you know?”

“Yes it is. I forgot that.” Konan said, flicking open a menu and perusing the contents. “I've worked up an appetite.”

You agreed and looked through the menu sitting in front of you. “Yeah. Me too.” 

So, you had one square meal and left to get ready for the night. Thankfully both you and Konan forgot about the topic you promised to shed some light on; your choice of religion. Yet there was one miniscule problem; you recalled that you already owned the appropriate small-patterned lace leggings. They were in your hotel room, so you told Konan that you had to make a quick stop before the club.  
After hoofing it up to your room and unlocking the door, you were treated to a jaw-dropping sight:

Itachi in a towel!  
And he nearly let removed that towel too, before he heard you unlock the door, pity you missed that part.

He turned and suppressed a frown from creasing his features. “You could have knocked.” He reprimanded coolly.  
“Could have, except, I’m paying for the room so I don’t have to!” You chirped, closing the door behind you and pausing to smirk at him and ask a question; mostly to bother him, considering the answer was obvious. “I have to get changed. So do you. We could do it in different rooms, or right here and not look.” 

“My clothes are out here.” 

“Oh look at that, mine aren’t! It’s okay, I’ll give you your privacy since its important, right?” You went into the bathroom, ignoring whatever reaction that might’ve come from him. It was true anyway. The bag holding your clothes were sitting on the counter in the bathroom and Itachi’s things were kept in the bedroom itself. You dug around in the bag and found what you required, changed and made sure your hair looked better than usual, and left the bathroom with confidence. Itachi was done dressing as well, but oh, never would you forget seeing him nearly naked with stray beads of water trickling down over his washboard stomach, hair hanging down in damp black strands that had yet to be tamed by a comb. That had been too wondrous a sight to behold.  
Currently, his eyes practically burned a hole through your back and he noiselessly swallowed a small lump that hitched in his throat. While wondering what the hell you were up to all of a sudden (you weren’t paying attention, you were sitting on one corner of the bed so you could tie the laces of your left boot that came undone), Itachi shoved a thought away as fast as he could before it affected his poker face:

_‘Ah yes. I could fuck that.’_

“What’s up Itachi?” _’Not your dick I hope. Then I’d be scared. There’s nothing_ that _pretty about me.’_ You thought, then rose from where you sat. “You know, I can’t keep Konan waiting. I better go.”

“Konan?” He echoed.

“We’re going to that club, the one at the north end of town." You informed him. “I’d ask you how I look but I’m afraid you’ll be an asshole and tell the truth.”

Itachi tilted his head, examining you. You didn’t dare turn to face him after you changed and came out of the bathroom, mainly, because you knew your face probably looked like a cherry, you were blushing so hard. Thus, he did not obtain an adequate view of your front, and you knew you were saying strange things. “Be back later, bye!” You left before he could think to say a word, keeping your back to him as you left despite how rude it was. All the confidence you carried out of that bathroom vanished into vapor once that man's beautiful black eyes focused on you. 

_’Ugh, this is why I avoid dressing up. It makes me self conscious!’_ You griped inwardly, heading down the stairs to Konan, silently cursing the height of your new knee-highs since they were awkward walking down stairs. You always wore heels so you weren’t too short, even if they were one and a half inches high or so, but these weren't as easy to wear as you anticipated. People hardly seemed to notice that you really were a petite little person without that extra inch and a half of heel. This was yet another habit your mother shoved you into as a child; the want to augment your height. It would die harder than the habit of matching purple and black clothing to your eyes and hair.

Soon you and Konan got into the club, which was a roar of movement and sound. Konan warned you on the way there that it was rave night. Neon was everywhere, and neither of you thought to pick up any glow-bracelets. A massive tangle of bodies throbbed, ground and swayed to the driving beat of the music; the chorus of voices mixed with that techno and the flashing strobe lights and lasers racing over the crowd formed a brain-warping migraine-inducing atmosphere. All your nose could detect was a cloud of various perfumes, colognes and alcohol, and the overpowered but still-acrid stench of sweat. Honestly? It wasn’t so great. But maybe the charm of this place would take effect once you got used to the atmosphere. Or if you got drunk, who knows.

Konan and you got separated, but it was okay. After a minute of squinting through the neon-illuminated masses, you spied her at the bar, not far away, and a couple of people who also settled at the bar started chatting her up. You glanced around and headed towards the crowd, moving a little to the music once songs changed. Sure, once you got past the ‘strange behavior’ factor, this loud and busy place wasn't so bad and you started dancing too, more towards the outer rim of the crowd. No one recognized you here, and it was easy to disappear without neon accessories of your own. Right now, as Konan said before, you were one more girl on a night out. It was foreign but nice.

Upon feeling a body snake around yours from behind, grinding smoothly with your rhythm, you adjusted and got more into it with whoever was behind you, leaning closer to him. It was easy to become disarmed and absorbed into the delusion that you weren’t a kunoichi anymore. It felt like you didn’t have to watch your back, which is always a mistake, but tonight, for once…it wasn’t.

The one behind you nuzzled a bit into your neck, and then…his voice resounding into your ear in scarcely more than a stage whisper above the music, you heard, “How can I answer your question if you don't let me see?"

Tension bristled over your form and your eyes opened a fraction wider, but you gracefully maintained your rhythm. That voice! You had heard it too often to mistake it.

It was none other than _Itachi_.


	22. Let The Games Begin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pein decides to restart your training and the tournament kicks off with the preliminaries.

Let the Games Begin

 

Konan sat with her back resting against the bar counter, ignoring the sensation of the surface prodding against her skin. A frosted glass was clutched carefully in one hand, forearm extended across the hard edge of the bar. While watching the other partygoers, she would swirl the contents of her drink gently before taking a sip, inhaling the almost elegant aroma of the amber liquid gratefully. The fluid tingled on the way down, offering her dry throat a reprieve. But the sting didn't so little as lift her attention a fraction of an inch. Konan was focused upon a specific pair. This was a sight she wasn't sure she'd see...but, to be truthful, she'd been hoping this particular occurrence would take place.

They were at such a distance that she could watch them clearly but far enough away so attention wasn’t drawn. Others would keep stealing glances, envious and in some cases getting a little horny by the sight of it; two people with bodies that many would kill to have. And this was why, wasn’t it? For sexual purposes? Not every person gets in shape for such shallow reasoning. But some do. A smirk nagged at the corner of Konan’s full, glossy lips, her wrist once again rotating in its socket to delicately swish the contents of her frost-whitened glass, fingerprints warmed through the thin layer and forming smeared markings. ”Ohhh, Itachi, Itachi..." Konan hissed under her breath, voice utterly drowned in the hyperactive cacophony. “I _hoped_ you would show.”

She watched them dance, their lips barely parting to trade snippets of off-the-cuff dialogue, battle-sculpted bodies winding around one another in a way that was neither clumsy nor graceful. In her opinion, 'grinding' isn’t meant to be fluid. It could be rough, demanding, taunting…. _sexual_ , not necessarily _subtle_. Konan had no idea that boy could dance. But then again, ninja are taught so many things for spy missions that it’s hard to keep track of each skill. Dancing could potentially be one of these. Or, perhaps, she wasn't offering enough credit. It's possible he granted himself time for a social life under his parent's very noses. 

Additionally, she had no idea _that girl_ could dance either, or at least, not very well. And between the pair of them grinding to the pounding rhythm, she wanted to call it ‘poetry in motion’ but that would be a lie. It wasn’t poetic. They weren’t doing the tango. 

_’And thankfully not the horizontal one, either.’_ Konan mused naughtily. 

 

_With You…_

 

“I had no idea that you knew how to dance.” You informed the other, who smirked and dropped his arms low around your hips, killing the inch of clearance between your stomachs. “Konoha’s Black Ops learn various skills for undercover missions. Is that not how it is everywhere?”

“Not necessarily.” You countered, shifting closer, hands running downwards over his back from his shoulders. “It doesn’t take half a brain to copy the crowd, does it? I learned by walking in here and watching.”

“That does not answer my question.” 

“Yeah, the Grass teaches various skills all through the Academy curriculum, but remember that officially I studied as a medic so I can’t answer that question very well. I was excluded from many things that the others would've been a part of.” 

“True.” For a change, he spun you around and then pulled you back towards him so your back was against his front. The music shortly thereafter went to a slower paced dance, per a few requests. At this, you took Itachi’s hand, leading him off the dance floor. “What's wrong?” He asked confusedly.

“I've got a powerful thirst.” You answered, and stopped at a more uninhabited section of the wall-long bar and turned to face Itachi while letting his hand go. “So…” You tilted your head and brushed a few strands of hair away, one of which had become trapped between your lashes. Your eyes were elsewhere, not on his face. For some reason you were having a hard time looking at him, and chose instead to ask the inevitable. "What made you come here?” You had to fight down the impulsive thoughts that would spark a blush upon your cheeks. It was tough to do even without looking Itachi in the eye though. It’d probably be easier if you did; that way you wouldn’t be staring at the floor beside him or at his forehead while shoving off the urge to check out what he was wearing, now that you were closer to a more stable light source. Had he been ‘in uniform’ people would’ve been scared out of the club by now for sure. This might be a hardened, nameless city but people still had their fears. And these days, more and more, Akatsuki was becoming the embodiment of fear itself. 

“Curiosity mainly.” Itachi confessed. He appeared not to have any qualms with looking you over, something you noticed by chance out of your peripheral vision. 

“That’s it?”

He smirked. “Whether or not there is another reason is irrelevant.”

“That depends who you ask!” You exclaimed, sitting down on a barstool. The music choice swapped for a yet slower, almost jazzy tune, as if the category of 'rave night' no longer mattered. Two women hopped up on stage next to the deejay and got to singing, both with sultry voices that you might hear in a musical staged in older days. You rolled your eyes and slumped against the counter. “Hey. Barkeep.” You barked at the woman, whom came ambling over. Upon further inspection it wasn’t a woman, but a man with straight strawberry blonde hair an inch below his shoulderblades and peculiar taste in clothing. “I need something strong and sweet. Don’t care what.” You shifted a small stack of ryou towards him without paying attention to how much of it there was since you really didn’t know how much the drink would cost you. “And all this says that you’ll keep your mouth shut while doing so.” Once you realized how that request sounded (strong and sweet? he could've turned that into a sexual reference easy!), you didn't want to give him an opportunity to make a smartass remark.

He nodded curtly, though was quite nonplussed by your behavior. Itachi let out a low laugh. That was probably the third time you heard such a desirable sound from him. “Mmm, you should do that more often.” You informed the other, who took up the barstool directly to the left of your own. “That’s one thing I actually _like_ the sound of.”

“Certain noises do appear to set you off. It only seems natural that other sounds would calm you.” He observed in a nearly voluptuous drawl, though it was likely unintentional. He set a few pieces of money on the counter and ordered a drink of his own. He watched the Barkeep pour out his drink into a glass filled with three thick clear ice cubes for a minute before redirecting his attention to the live entertainment. You were already sipping yours, satisfied with the strength of the cocktail. The barkeep might’ve thought you a rude bitch by now (at this point, who's to argue?) but you were a rude bitch with _money_ , and plenty of it. That was his favorite kind of rude bitch. He’d put up with you until you got out of hand, at which point he’d bark at ‘your boyfriend’ to put a leash on his cat. Although the poor sap really had no idea that wasn't the situation between the both of you, at least not yet. It wasn't as though he’d be within his rights to reign you in if you _did_ get out of control. Tonight was one of the few nights where you were supposed to relax but, intermittently, there were issues floating to the surface of your mind, like bodies to be drowned in a river of vodka. You preferred to maintain your attention on the gorgeous man beside you, but when unsure of how to deal with him, his presence was beginning to generate more stress than good. Dancing was easy. It didn't involve talking. Right now, this had nothing to do with work, so any topics were going to be more personal. It would be nice to learn more about him, but on some level, you were concerned that while also learning about you, he'd find things he didn't like and then all this progress would be gone. Then there's the worry that in the end, he'd turn out like Deidara; only out to serve his own interests like many men.  
Even with all that, this didn't have to be so awkward. So why was it? You're a grown woman, for fuck's sake!

Itachi had been watching you as you eyed the swaying, bobbing crowd as all those people moved to the lower-key 'nearly' sexy rumble and pitch of the music. The rave-punks had, for the most parts, exited the establishment and went in search of a faster paced venue to continue their sweaty evening while the mood was still white hot. Konan was also around, for awhile being clustered about by a handful of men, until she snubbed them…at which point, they would go off in search of a more friendly face. 

“You are stressed.” Itachi remarked, shifting his weight against the bar counter and fixing you with his darkest-before-dawn eyes, making an unintentional shiver rush from your spine outwards to the top of your head, fingertips and toes. A small smile tipped your mouth, diminishing as soon as it lived, and you glanced to the clock on the wall. It was broken and you didn’t know the time. What did it matter anyway? “Am I that transparent?” You muttered gloomily, sinking low on your barstool and nudging your now empty glass away. “Sorry Itachi. I’m not trying to ignore you. It's just that I'm not used to any of this.” 

“Yes, you appear to be in your own world.” He said, amused in spite of himself. He was severely disused to being ignored. His presence usually commanded attention, as ignoring him is folly, especially for an opponent. Still, Itachi thought he knew how to lighten the mood. “So then. I hope you will not be so tense in bed.” 

“Wh-what?!”

“I don't recall stuttering.” 

“….” In bed? You heard him correctly didn’t you? “Say again?”

Itachi’s eyes, which had roamed over to the sparse ten couples slowly revolving in time with a song, moved back to you, and he reiterated the comment. “I said that I hope you will not be so tense in bed. We _are_ sleeping together, aren’t we?"

It was easy to misconstrue his meaning, which was undoubtedly the intention. There's only one bed in the room, and the one sofa wasn't proper for somebody to sleep on. “Ah...yes?”

“Then what seems to be the problem?”

“Nothing!” You blurted out, turning your head away quickly in hopes that your hair and the opposite direction would conceal the blush cresting upon the apples of your cheeks. “It’s nothing at all.” This was a ploy to wrench you out of your odd mood, you recognized that, but the notion that you'd be spending the rest of your nights in Anarchy barely a few inches away from this man was striking. You thought of something like this earlier when initially suggesting that he stay with you, but the reality never struck home until recently.

“Did you forget?”

“No, of course I didn’t!"

“Why so flustered?”

Boy were his tiny observations getting to you. “I’m cold.” Yeah, that’s it! Liar. Then, a quick topic change was an order you decided. “So you got the time, Itachi?”

“No.” His response was blank, flat, and obvious. As if you ought to realize this, too.

“Huh? Thought for sure you would have a watch, you’re always punctual.” You said, raising your eyebrows at him now that you felt safe in looking back his way. Sleeping beside him wasn't going to be so bad. It was unnecessary to be so taken aback by his remarks. It's be interesting to get to know him better, but you weren't some pathetic fangirl trying to wheedle her way into a sexual relationship, either.

Itachi lifted a single eyebrow of his own and said, rather blandly and pointedly, “Since we are on break, I felt that time is more of a work-oriented tool. Why would I care what time it is? I will go to bed when I am tired, awake when I am rested, eat when I am hungry and otherwise do as I please. When it is time to return to my missions, which I have none of at present anyhow, I will worry about ‘time’.” You tilted your head, semi-incredulous. “I never thought you had the ability to be so laid back about something like that Itachi.”

“Ah, just like that?” He asked almost offhandedly, giving a cursory glance towards his fingernails and noted that they were in good shape. The way he said and acted about it made you fill in the blanks. He surely has other aspects to his personality... likes and dislikes and habits that would strike you silly, if something as relatively small as his concept of time when off duty surprised you as it did. But Itachi was so enigmatic you weren't very shocked that there were untold depths to his personality. No one got to know him, is all. Even Kisame, his partner, wouldn’t know too much about Itachi beyond the closest facts to the surface. He was bound to have some skeletons in his closet. And _everyone_ has their quirks.

Knowing that and keeping this knowledge pinned down firmly, it was easier not to be so awkward in Itachi's presence, now that attraction was openly known as mutual. If only you thought about this earlier, the whole evening would have gone differently. Maybe it'd be fun to peel away layer after layer of his secrets, if he let you.

You stood up and turned towards the door, catching a glimpse of the dark outdoors when a middle-aged man left. “This place is winding down. I bet they’ll close shortly, it must be late.” You said, crossing your arms with a tiny shiver. Wearing a cute outfit is one thing; but you didn't have a jacket that fit the ensemble and it was getting chillier whenever another guest or two swung the doors open to leave. “A warm bed sounds good right now.” You tossed an over-exaggerated wink in his direction and strode towards the door. “Shall we, my love?" Itachi barely acknowledged the comment, but at least he didn't snap at you for it. A light tease here and there couldn't hurt, could it? There was nothing to fear from this man right now. You felt obligated to start proving to Itachi, in small ways, that you could handle being close him after all.

Konan, from across the room, chuckled and got up as well. She’d been thinking of leaving but she stuck around in hopes of seeing some sparks fly between you and Itachi, but alas, nothing overly remarkable happened. It was a big huge letdown, aside from how you two danced and held an actual _conversation_ about things other than work and certain unsavory characters. Historically he wasn’t thought of as much of a conversationalist, but he did open his mouth and speak more than people gave him credit for. 

Itachi gave a nod and arose from his seat, glancing at Konan and following you. Upon stepping outside, you both saw a dim glow crouching over the horizon. The night sky was reluctantly lightening, shade by shade, as if unwilling to relinquish its hold upon the world. Well, that answered your inquiry as to the hour, more or less. It was the crack of dawn. You sighed and turned in the direction of the hotel, heading that way now. About twenty minutes later a badly stifled yawn rent the air in the stairwell, but it wasn’t from your mouth. Itachi was walking right beside you, soldiering along in spite of his clear exhaustion. At present you were regretting your choice of a suite on the top floor. It was nice to be the only customer staying up there (well, aside from your new room mate) and no noisy neighbors had disturbed you from the lower floors as yet. Good thing too, because if someone started raising a ruckus while you were trying to sleep or enjoy some peace and quiet…the hotel owner would have a rather displeased kunoichi with absolutely zero qualms with killing people on his hands. 

Oh well. The pros outweighed the cons.

You barged into your own room, cursing your killer heels and desperate to trade your current outfit for something vastly more comfortable. Yes, you liked to match your clothing and all, but it was more habit from childhood than vanity and all it took was one night all dolled up for you to realize _how_ out of place you were in the ordinary world of hair, makeup, little black dresses, sex, night clubs, so on. You couldn’t be happier with your occupation. Not everyone got the opportunity to be a shinobi. It was like a dream and a nightmare packaged messily together: nine out of ten people wanted to enter into the Academy, or put their kids into it, but quite as many of them couldn’t make it no matter how great they endeavored to succeed. Even less became medics, and fewer still specialized in poison and, you felt justified in believing this next part: you were one of the explicit few people in the world that anyone knew of who were capable of raising the dead. If that isn't job security, what the hell _is_?

Speaking of ‘the dead’, Itachi secured the door behind him, and yawned again. On the way up the stairs, with every step he took, he realized how exhausted he really was. If you both stayed out any later you might as well pull an all-nighter. He’d been unable to find a place to crash the night before and insisted that you keep him awake through the day today so he would slumber tonight, especially knowing that the tournament was coming up as he did. It was wise to start catching up on sleep. Though now he came close to running for three days without rest. He’d done it before in his academy days but now he wasn’t a teenager anymore. Being an adult tends to change your sleep rhythm. 

Meanwhile, in a moment of silliness, you dove under the blankets while he was considering whether or not to collapse in the very clothes he wore. He stared at the strange lump wrestling with itself under the blankets on the mattress, then rubbed his eyes, sniffed disdainfully, and moved past the bed to scoop up his bag with clothing in it. On the way by he grabbed the blankets and yanked them off to see what the commotion was about. With a miniscule, girlish squeak, you were revealed to him, wearing nothing but your bra, panties, and a pair of purple, black and blue-plaid pajama pants; which, by the way, were hiked up your left leg and tangled inside-out around your right ankle. You blinked huge purple eyes up at him like a deer caught in headlights.

“What _are_ you doing?” Itachi asked, wondering if he’d regret it.

“I used the bathroom to get dressed last time?” You half-asked, indirectly suggesting that it was his turn. His onyx orbs drew downwards from your eyes to your bra, noting that it was vivid blue with black lace. You colored and snatched the covers from him, pulling them back over your head and sulking in the shadows beneath. Oh kami, he certainly got a good look didn’t he? At least, with how you were huddled up trying to fix your pajama pants, he didn’t see your panties too. They matched your bra and were very low cut. Gah! So what?! A girl can wear whatever she likes for underwear, can’t she?! You can’t judge someone on that! 

“Waaaaah…” You groaned, finally righting your pants and yanking them upwards. Now where did that top go? You groped around in the darkness under the blankets.

“What?” Itachi inquired boredly, sitting down on the bed and opening the bag. 

“You saw me in my underwear, and, oh yeah, since you grabbed the covers off me my shirt went missing!”

“I fail to see the problem.” Itachi drawled, standing up and stripping down to his boxers about as lazily as he had the first time you saw him undress. He finished it off with pulling his hair out of its customary ponytail, then put his clothing back in his bag. “You’ve seen me in my boxers.”

“Yeah but those are your pajamas aren’t they?” You asked, realizing that your shirt wasn’t tangled in the covers, but smashed against the mattress under your legs. You pulled it on over your head and then batted the covers away, breaking into the somewhat dim lightning in the room. Itachi's smirk was a quick one. He lay down, pulling the blankets up. “Not in the summer.”

“What?!” When it put it like that, it was easy to imagine him naked in bed. 

“We aren’t even, you know.”

“Even, in terms of _what_? I saw you in your underwear, you saw me in mine, isn’t that enough?”

“I've seen you wearing less.” Itachi admitted. 

You turned the light off and slipped into bed on your side. “When?” You asked at last, dreading the answer.

“Earlier. When you were showering.”

That saved you the next question which was, ‘how much less’. You blushed harder and snuggled deeper into bed. Five minutes of silence later, you turned over on your side and looked at Itachi through the dark, illuminated ever-so faintly by the early dawn glow creeping up the horizon. The curtains stifled all but some of that light. Itachi’s eyes were closed and you figured it was wise to keep silent. You never saw him this tired before. 

But, reflecting upon the topic of minutes ago, you figured that it wasn’t a big deal. Beyond that you didn’t think of anything else to add to that, because you drifted off to sleep. 

Outside dawn became full-blown morning, which in turn progressed into the afternoon which was when you awoke. Your eyes opened to the intricate design of an ivory-painted tin ceiling. There was a weight on your chest and you looked down to see a mass of long black hair resting upon your left breast. The television was on but the volume was so low you had to strain your ears to hear it. Currently there was a moving camera display of the Arena and a box was in the corner of the screen. The bottom of the screen reeled off the declaration in loud orange letters, ‘Let the games BEGIN!’

You placed a hand on Itachi’s head and ran your fingers over his hair, down his neck, to his shoulder, then stopping over the bicep. He tilted his head back and looked at you with lucid black eyes. 

“Morning.” You greeted sleepily. 

He nodded his head slightly, still looking at you, and then returned his attention to the TV screen. 

“What’s wrong with your pillow that you’re using _me_ for one instead?”

“I felt like it.” Was his matter-of-fact answer, as though you should’ve known. 

“Oh!” You laughed despite the situation. It _was_ a little funny; Itachi was the last person you thought would snuggle up to you. Apart from Zetsu, that is. He’s a prickly pear if ever there was one. Prickly pears aren’t very snuggly. Cactuses and gigantic man-consuming Venus fly traps aren’t either.

And you also noticed that Itachi wasn’t even remotely ashamed of himself for this. Itachi never gave excuses and rarely backpedaled from something he said or did. He stood up for every action and word he did or spoke. And he appeared distinctly confident that you wouldn’t mind the position you woke up in. It was true. You didn’t have a one problem with it. Oddly, it was nice. This made him seem more human and less godlike.

“So.” You began.

“So?”

“I didn’t know that the arena was opening today.”

“Had you paid attention to Leader when he spoke on that topic, you would have everything you need to know in mind.” Itachi responded flatly. He wasn't too much of a morning person, but you let his tone slide. But he did have a point, and you felt a minor twinge of guilt.

“I know he needs to talk to us again about it.” You defended, once again sorely regretting the past time at the arena. At that stage you couldn’t keep your wits together because Deidara and Sasori were standing there, pissing you off because they were _breathing_. Admittedly, you were riddled with adrenaline from defending Pein-sensei’s (and your own) reputation against Tweedle-Dee and his three Tweedle-Dum’s.

“Yes he does.” Said he. “We are to meet up at the same time at the arena as we have once before. Today.”

“What? And _when_ were you people planning on telling me this?" 

“You know now Saiya. That does not matter.”

“So you _weren’t_ planning on letting me know.” You grunted bitterly. 

“I suspect that Konan had every intention.”

“She had all the chances in the world to tell me and she didn’t, so, as usual, I’d end up being left holding the bag. Great.”

“There's no need to see it that way.” Itachi said, a firm gravity in his voice put there to weigh down your temper. His voice of authority usually worked, and you had to admit he was right...this was about plucking at straws, now. For a moment, the impulse to explode at him, to yell and become unnecessarily aggressive was almost irresistible. To yell at him, 'you aren't my father, don't talk like him!', to overreact...but it passed, thankfully. To surpass those childish urges required a measure of maturity that would go beyond some people. And pride ran thick in your veins, but it wasn't time to let such abrupt and foolish anger grip your throat...or his, for that matter. Instead you took a breath, released it, and attempted a level tone of voice. "You're right. As usual."

Itachi heard those defeated words, but nearly didn't believe them. It wasn't long ago that you traded childish barbs with Deidara, often in the open, usually increasing in severity with time. While only one or two of the more disruptive arguments and pranks were memorable, he knew there was a fair amount more than that. To him at least, it was plain to see that you were changing in fits and starts. Or, perhaps, that's just the effect various people had on you.

He shook his head a little, and got up. Now wasn't when he should be thinking of these things. “I’m showering.”

“Uh-huh. Do whatever you want.” 

Upon hearing this Itachi wheeled back around and in one motion pushed you against the headboard and crushed his lips against yours, falling onto the space beside you on the bed that he previously occupied. Your eyes strained wide open and found Itachi was watching you intently. You weren't sure how long it lasted, and why your hands didn't find his shoulders to shove him against the mattress. When he broke away, he rose again with a rather frigid smirk. 

“Why?" You asked, breathless and staring. For what reason would he make such a move now of all times?!

“Whatever I want.” He drawled lazily, glancing at your fully puzzled expression before grabbing some clothes and heading into the bathroom.

You were left alone, staring at the place where his eyes had been when you two kissed. He’d been so aggressive about it, as though to put you in your place. And boy, did it ever. You were struck stupid in that instant and no longer upset. 

“Damn.” You mumbled to yourself. You ran the tip of your tongue over your lips. While doing so, the sound of running water came to your attention.

_Ahah._

He said he did what he wanted, and evidently, a kiss was what he wanted in that moment. Or was it another way of shutting you up? No, it can't be. He'd been discreet, with some more obvious jabs of flirtation up until now, and it wasn't easy to say how much was held back.

You got up and set about making the bed. There was no point in staying nice and comfy when you’d need to leave the hotel room soon. Since you two went to bed late, it was only natural to wake up late. The time was 1:59pm. Damn.

You finished making the bed very quickly (since all you did was yank the covers up unceremoniously and put the pillows in place) and still heard running water, so, snickering to yourself, you slipped across the room to the bathroom door and nudged the door open a crack, cautious not to push it so far that it’d creak. You were immediately rewarded for your devious behavior. The shower was well in view and Itachi was stark naked within it…thank you Jashin! His eyes were closed because he was lathering soap into his hair. That body of his…holy fuck, it got _better_ and better with every day of training didn’t it? Every muscle was toned to near-perfection, his skin was only vaguely marked by flaws but they weren’t very noticeable unless you paid attention to explicit detail, but you liked that they were there…the little nick-marks left from close scrapes with katana and kunai and shuriken and the like. It marked Itachi as human. 

He was nearly done rinsing the soap from his hair and it was then that you reluctantly drew away from the door and closed it fully before he could turn and notice you. You went to the bed and lay down atop of the covers, eyes on the TV which was flickering between commercials. Ugh, looking at him was a _vile_ idea. Now you had to live with the knowledge that one of your team mates in Akatsuki is a gorgeous, sexy creature and while he wasn’t off limits (as of recently) you had to keep in mind that it wasn’t wise to harass him out of the blue despite how you really enjoyed doing so. Now it was torture because you had the image of Itachi showering in your head, his skin glistening with a layer of water, completely exposed to view… _every single_ part of him. HELLO!

Speaking of whom, Itachi came out of the bathroom with a towel on his head and a shirt in hand. Lord, was he _trying_ to mess with your head? Nah it was probably one of those things where he has no idea what he’s doing to you. That’s good considering that Itachi is one to exploit a situation for all it’s worth. And he _did_ force a kiss on you earlier. Who knows what else might happen next?

You looked back at the tv and watched through the third hand cream commercial that morning and maintained the silence between yourself and the male in the room, whom was currently mussing his hair with the towel. The news came back on again while you sat and thought, deliberately not looking at him. This was a different channel. And since it was doing a segment on the tournament in a city that doesn’t exist as far as the rest of the world was concerned, that confirmed it.

“So Yuan, when exactly _is_ the tournament slated to begin?” You heard a baby blue-eyed buxom blonde reporter inquire of a wiry youth with white hair and skin tan as a sailor’s. He bore a grin so huge at the question that you wondered if his head was going to fall to the road in two pieces. 

Yuan turned around to acknowledge the monstrous stadium behind him then returned to grinning spiritedly at the camera lens. A little _too_ spiritedly. “Why, at the stroke of midnight!”

The blondie reporter lady lazed against the desk and checked her false rouge-painted nails. When you weren't mentally undressing Itachi in your peripheral vision; you saw that it was painfully obvious that the female news anchor was an older woman victim to couple too many facelifts and fifteen pounds of makeup. When she shifted to address the camera and shuffle some papers, it was hard not to notice her serious breast augmentations. Really, you could hide your entire arsenal between those babies. They were about the _size_ of babies.

“And are there any festivities?” She droned, wholly uninterested in the report that would make so many people happy. Lord, she must be a bloody _riot_ at parties. This news station knew how to pick em'. 

“I never thought you’d ask.” Yuan deadpanned, his happy temperament dampening. “There will be a festival for as long as this tournament goes on, and fireworks to mark the occasion as well.”

The woman slammed a hand on the desk and snarled like the old she-demon hag she really was. “WHAT?!?! The whole world will-“

“-I’m glad you asked _that_ too!” Yuan was chipper again. “There are teams on standby making sure it all goes unnoticed.”

“But they’re FIREWORKS!!! You’re supposed to notice them you dingbat!” The diva was coming out retirement. She had an audience, and a silly guy to humiliate.

“Ahhh…well…that is…”

“How can you--"

You turned the volume down with a snort and got up. “A festival, huh? With fireworks too. I’d love to see how they cover that up from the outside world.” You set about making sure all the things you needed were in the bathroom. Steam still wavered close to the ceiling within its confines, and the mirrors and shiny metal fixtures were fogged with moisture.

“I suspect they will use a jutsu of some sort.” Itachi responded mildly.

“Hah! You know as well as I do that they’d need to levy a lot of manpower for such a thing. And this place is as lawless as it gets. How would enough of them cooperate?" You said.

“There are enough who want this event to see that it does happen.” Was Itachi’s ever-so wise answer. You bobbed your head once in agreement and stole into the bathroom. “By the by, gorgeous; we’re even.” You closed the door and went to taking your shower.

As you washed up you thought back to the closet in your quarters at the Gyaku Compound. There had been a couple of kimonos in there, one you wore to some function you couldn’t recall, the other you had worn to a festival. It even had a mask with it but you didn’t know of which animal. The mask was something you won in a game your brother challenged you to, thinking he’d win because you’re a girl and he’s a boy. You carried it around for the rest of that festival day but never wore it afterwards, choosing to keep it with the kimono you wore that day. It was a memento you rarely looked at. 

Though neither kimono would fit you today. You guessed it was time to go drag Konan’s sorry ass out shopping again today, poor girl, since you didn’t trust her to find herself a nice kimono. She was beautiful but less conservative in her clothing choices, and kimonos are nothing if not covering. A half hour or so later you were back in the room and Itachi was sitting in the window with the screen propped against the wall. He watched out across Anarchy, ignoring your presence for now at least. 

“Something eatin’ ya?”

He chuckled. "So. We're even."

“Yep.”

“….”

“How’s it feel? Embarassing right?”

“Could have come in instead of peeking, you know.”

“Whoa there, who are you and what’d you do with Itachi?” Upon seeing him lift an eyebrow you waved your hands defensively. "Its only that you've been different lately. It's not a bad thing! I'm just...surprised." 

He chose to ignore that observation. “Are you going to the festival?” He inquired. You tilted your head and sat down on the edge of the bed, frowning at the dark stained baseboard spanning the bottom of the wall. “No.”

“I thought you would be the first person there.”

“That used to be the case when I was little.” You blinked up at his figure in the window and saw he was watching you. “That's changed, since.”

"Who are you and what'd you do with Saiya?" He used a variation of your own words against you, suggesting that this was unlike you.

“I say you’re too serious and you think I’m not serious enough.” You chuckled, successfully deciphering that gentle jab. “But you’ve lightened up Itachi, whether you want to admit that or not.” As expected the other went silent. He was done teasing you for—wait. Teasing? Itachi was _teasing_? That was monumental in itself. And judging from his facial expression, which was the usual slack poker face, and his posture, you decided it was time to leave him be. He probably spent all his ‘emotional allowance’ for the whole fucking _year_ and owed himself a debt of silence. Perhaps opening up to somebody wasn't easy for him.

“Stay here if you want.” You told him. “I’m going. Lock up if you leave.” It was a request for common courtesy, the fact that you felt compelled to say this out loud drew his stare. He watched you tie a last senbon holster on around your white-bandaged thigh then get up, grab your bag of tricks, slip your shoes on and leave the premises.

For the most parts all you did was roam around Anarchy aimlessly, pausing in shops to grab some small items. The last stop you made was the singularly most useful one you visited today; a shop that carried just about everything a medic of any caliber could want for remedies and poisons alike. It was tucked between two run-down buildings past the south end of a street branching off the main drag, and the proprietor was a plucky middle-aged lady living upstairs with her younger girlfriend, a missing-ninja from the Mist. But you didn’t recall seeing her in the bingo book nicked from Kakuzu awhile back and you couldn’t pair her face with a name either. It was of no importance. _Many_ sought refuge here, both famous and not.

After dropping about seven thousand ryou at the store you made a quick trip back to the hotel room to drop off the day’s purchases. Itachi wasn’t there and the door was locked, but the window screen was still resting against the wall where he left it earlier. You put your new things down, made an expedient use of the bathroom and two minutes later were preparing to bound rooftop-to-rooftop into the sunset. You’d arrive at the arena and be the first person out of the group to get there actually. So you waited in the same spot as last time. It felt like forever that you stood there and your belly growled in protest at how you had yet to eat. While leaning against the tall pedestal a large statue of some armored warrior stood upon, you folded your arms, shivered in the spreading chill of dusk, and stared down at your toes. Tch, it was time to repaint your nails again. 

Still. Last night, you could have looked down and seen your toes covered by boots with heels someone could jump off of and commit suicide. Or, at least, that’s how disused you were to wearing shoes _that_ tall. 

“Hey.”

You ignored the unfamiliar voice, sinking somewhat further into your thoughts about how odd it was to have dressed differently for one day. Already, once again dressed as a kunoichi, this garb felt foreign. Was a little spooky how that went, really. You wondered if Itachi cared how you looked last night. Some guys might like a girl to dress sexy, but just as many didn't give a damn about the wrapping as long as they could tear it off later.

“Hey!”

You continued to pay no attention to the person, thinking she was yelling at someone else.

Now a male voice. “Hey you. Akatsuki.” 

_That_ got you. You blinked up and around, disturbed from your thoughts at last and shaking off the cobwebs of reverie. “What?” The people in question were accompanied by many others. There were fifteen of them in all, six men and nine women. 

“I thought that’d get your attention.” The guy said, smirking. 

You straightened up and planted a hand on your right hip. “Don’t waste my time.”

“Oh yes because you looked _so_ busy leaning there.” He sneered.

With a smile, you spoke with a mildly poisonous tone. “Yeah, that’s more important than wasting my time on a complete dipshit like you.” 

“Psh. You’re going down you know. You and your buddies are all goin’ _down_ tomorrow.” The guy grumbled, flopping a spike of longish brown hair out of his hard blue eyes. “Now get the fuck out of here, we got the arena for training tonight.”

“Is that all?” You lifted an eyebrow. “Nothing else? You’re done blowing smoke?”

“It’s not smoke.” He defended.

“We’ll see won’t we?”

“You’re in our way, bitch.”

“Ooooo, name calling. You’re a badass.”

“Saiya!” Konan came running up and Pein bounded down from a rooftop after her, in less of a hurry. “What’s going on here?” But you waved her off and looked back at the guy whom you assumed to be the leader of his rabble. “You and your cretins should get the hell out of our way.” You paused, and then smirked. “Now while you’re trying to figure out what I just called you, I suggest you march your asses in there and train like you signed up for. Going to need all the training you can get if you want to live more than five seconds.”

“There is no need to say such things.” Pein remarked coolly and amusedly while coming closer. Velvety darkness was pouring in on all directions through the sky, blotting out the remnants of daylight. Dusk came and went rapidly these days. "They will find out the hard way. If they must.”

Konan pivoted to glance around. The others were here, materializing out of the night one by one. That group of fifteen people twitched closer together and each individual twisted to see around at the dark figures around them cloaked in black and red bordered with white. All of Akatsuki had gathered at last, and they made themselves evident in a circle around the others. At this sight, that other group developed an air of extreme tension between themselves. Like sheep trapped by a ring of wolves, which is _exactly_ what they were. But they were trying to remain emotionless in the face of fear and possible doom. It would have been admirable to you before you joined Akatsuki but now it was nothing new. People always tried to hide their terror that they’re in the company of s-class rogue shinobi _butchers_. The thing to do was go down with your pride intact, but plenty of people always managed to die like the big blubbering pansies they really are.

“Let’s go.” Their leader said, more suggesting it than anything, all the ferocity diminished from his voice. They went, hurrying out of sight into the vast main corridor of the arena. It was easy to try and bully a lone Akatsuki, but when the whole lot of them appears it's time to scram. 

“What was that all about, un?”

“Who gives a fuck?” Hidan grunted at Deidara. You shook your head and pulled your cloak tightly around you, shivering once more into its warmth. “It’s bloody cold out here. Are we going to get on with it already?” 

“I’m sure you've all noticed that the tournament is beginning tomorrow.” Pein began patiently, ignoring the comments. Everyone gave some sign of agreement.

“Understand that I will only participate in certain rounds. The rest of you will work in teams of varying size, so I want everyone to formulate a strategy with one another in the event you are paired with someone you aren’t accustomed to working with. I assure you all it _will_ happen.” He paused for the group to absorb that, and then continued upon drawing a short breath. “Also know that we will be going through various types of challenges. And,” He interrupted himself once he noted how the gentlemen and Konan rolled their eyes. “I’m telling you all this because these are new challenges mixed in with the old ones from the previous tournament. While tomorrow is the beginning, remember that preliminaries run for one week. There are more contestants this year. Any questions?”

No one spoke up. Everybody certainly was tight-lipped and businesslike as all get-out tonight.

“Very well. I want you all to begin training as soon as possible if not immediately. This week is the best time for that.” His grey eyes were more subdued in the darkening dusk. He looked towards the arena entrance. The sounds of battle echoed down the halls and through the door. The group from earlier was hard at work, probably on some strategies of their own.

“I will send word when it is time for us to enter preliminaries. That will be all for now.” With that, he vanished. Konan and Zetsu did too but not all at once. You, having started leaning on the statue base again, pushed off and started walking like a normal person, as did a few others. But you weren’t alone. Sasori fell into stride beside you. Fucking _fabulous_ , your most ‘favorite’ person in the world out of all of the others decided to follow _you_. Then you noticed Kisame was catching up too. You spared Sasori a cold glance out the corner of a purple eye. “Why is it that out of all of us have you chosen to inflict yourself upon _me_?”

“Huh?” Kisame thought you were talking to him at first but you shook your head. “Not you Blueberry-kun. I like you. I don’t like _this_ one here however.” You slapped a hand on top of Sasori’s head and mussed his hair briefly. He didn’t bother swatting you away, it was pointless to try. 

“We should train.” Sasori said to you simply and yet…was that a suggestive undercurrent you detected there?

“No!” You barked. “You’re useless to me for sparring, you don’t take it seriously and I’m not about to hold back on your account. It’s a waste of my time.”

“It won’t always be that way.” Sasori informed you. “We _should_ train. We don’t have a strategy.”

Before you could open your mouth to fire back a creative retort, you were cut across. “Tch, she won’t be training with you, she’s coming with _me_.” Kisame snapped, a large hand landing upon your closest shoulder and steering you in another direction. “Come on Saiya. Let’s go.”

“Okay?” You tagged along, both wanting to as opposed to being stuck with Sasori and also having not much of a choice with that tight grip he had on your shoulder. Sasori wasn’t surprised at how this went. You glimpsed his knowing smirk whilst being spirited in the opposite direction. Oh how you hated that smile, it meant the gears where turning in his head. Unfortunately, _his_ gears are well oiled unlike most people's. “So Blue-kun, I wasn’t aware that I agreed to spar with you.”

“Yes you did.”  
“Since when?” You teased.  
“Just now, because I fucking said so.”  
“Oh-ho! Alright, you’re in a mood. I get it; I’ll put up and shut up.”  
“Bout’ time.” The shark man grunted. He led you to the docks, into a clearing between crates stacked several feet high and cargo-nets hanging full of various parcels above the boardwalk. Boats and ships bobbed and creaked on the black water shimmering in the moonlight, and the dull roar of voices from the main square could be heard from here, lost occasionally under murmurs of wind and the lapping of soft waves against dock posts and ship hulls. It was not nearly as loud now as it was during the day of course, but life still went on. Kisame relinquished his hold on your shoulder and you rubbed it, watching him. "Say, is everything okay?"

“Yeah, yeah. Had a rough few days is all. And something isn’t right about Sasori.”

You smiled wryly, fingers kneading absentmindedly at that shoulder, soothing the sharp ache there from his strong grip. “I’m keeping an eye open.”

“One eye won’t do with him. You know that.”  
“He’s not as formidable as everyone says he is, Kisame.”  
“Saiya, you sure as hell aren’t giving him enough credit.” 

Right when you were prepared to respond, a shadow was cast across the blotch of moonlight beside you. You knew who it was from the silhouette alone; Pein.

“Pein-sensei?” You asked, turning to look up at him. He leapt down, cloak rustling around him, landing and crossing his arms. “Listen to him. He's right.”  
You heaved a laborious sigh. This again? “I’m certain we had a conversation like this before.”  
“Apparently it didn’t sink in the first time. Some things _do_ change I see; I never had to repeat myself to you Saiya.” Pein snapped.   
You hung your head to the side, pulling the muscles attached to your shoulder. Kisame had been tougher than he should've been, as if he was concerned that the Puppet Master would jerk your strings and bring you sailing out of his grasp. You rotated your shoulder and neck thoughtfully, and remarked dryly, "Something about the way you guys are acting smells bad. Are you sure this is _only_ about Sasori?"  
“Enough talk,” Pein began. “Draw your sword."  
“Huh?”  
“Are you deaf?” His tone had become icy and threatening, a command filling its depths. You remembered that sound in his voice from when you were younger, how he talked to you like that because you were his student and to this day still _were_ , apparently. The people who spoke of how Konoha’s jounin were tough teachers such as Hatake Kakashi, or even the Hokage Tsunade, obviously didn’t know about Nagato Pein. They all had it easy compared to you, because they were gentle, warm and fluffy compared to Pein. No matter how good you got when you were younger he always kicked your ass, as any teacher should, but with Pein it was different. He pressured you to dig deeper from one moment to the next. Most of the time you went home so wiped out it was amazing you could get up at the prescribed time the next day to train with your _other_ sensei too. And they wondered how you got so hardcore all of a sudden back then, if your peers had known who else took you under his wing, they’d understand.

You drew your black katana out of its sheath, glancing at the keen edge where it glistened in the moonlight. But Pein did not move from his spot. He addressed Kisame instead. “Either participate or get out of my way.” He ordered, stern as usual. Kisame took Samehada off his back and shouldered it, smirking. He could feel that living blade quiver slightly in anticipation under its bandages. “No way. I want to see what she’s got.” Apparently, Samehada felt the same. It could sense your chakra and wanted to devour every last particle.

“Very well. For now you two will fight to get a feel of where Saiya is at with a sword. This fight will end when I say so. Now begin!” He didn't need to tell Kisame of all people that he wasn't to hold back.

Kisame started things off before you could move a muscle. He was vastly more experienced as a swordsman than you were; being one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, whom were all so masterful with swordplay that they were legendary.   
Kisame rushed forth and you barely got your katana between yourself and Samehada, bracing your feet against the ground. It's not as though you were physically as strong as the guy you began to consider a brother. He overpowered you easily and knocked you backwards, once again moving closer and swinging Samehada overhead-down towards the top of your head. You rolled aside and barely avoided getting shaved in half, gained the ground beneath your feet as quickly as possible and retaliated from behind. It didn’t work very well; Kisame anticipated the direction you would come from easily and parried your strike, turned it aside, and…once again, moving far quicker than you could with a sword, swung Samehada horizontal towards your midsection. You ducked and mimicked his attack with your katana but at a lower level towards his knees where you crouched below the shadow of the Samehada swinging heavily two inches above your head. Kisame leapt up and flipped, landing behind you, barely touching the ground before he surged at you again. You somersaulted backwards, but miscalculated. There was no chance to evade his next attack because of that.

This time you had to block him again, but his sword was so close that from between the white bandages covering the sword itself, a triangular razor-sharp toothy projection shot out and dug against your skin painfully. Blood ran down your cheek and you felt the strange sensation of chakra leeching out from your body into the sword, like lightning to a pole. The only thing between you and getting at least five more of those teeth was the thin black katana you had a death grip on. Kisame grinned at you with those sharp white shark-teeth of his, mockingly almost. “Not good.”

“Don’t talk to me! I’m trying to stop you from shredding me into sushi!”

“Mmm. Sushi.” He thrust more pressure behind the Samehada and you pushed back but discovered quickly that you wouldn’t win in raw strength, yet again, so instead you pushed as hard as you could and jumped back abruptly, throwing the Samehada off your katana long enough to free it from in between two of the teeth protruding out from between the bandages. 

Now squaring off ten paces away from one another, you glanced around and up at Pein uncertainly out the corner of an eye, but were otherwise too cautious to take your eyes off Kisame fully. You couldn’t take out your wakizashi because you needed all the strength you could get behind your katana. You wanted to though; you were much more comfortable wielding the shorter blade than this longer one. And special abilities were completely off the table for this fight, though you were missing that Strength sigil right about now.

Kisame started to circle around towards you and you circled away, maintaining ample distance. Pein jumped down and landed in the middle. “Enough.” He said.

Kisame's toothy grin broadened and he straightened up. “Not good at _all_.”

“It’s a work in progress Kisame.” Pein told him smoothly. “Saiya. There is so much left to be desired with your skills. We shall have to train more often than in the past if we're to make an impact before tournament's end."

You suppressed a groan. Pein was ruthless as it is, but now he was going to be your full time sensei, _and_ there would be missions involved. Great. Here you thought you passed jounin exams long ago.

“Clearly you only know how to block well because of your usage of the wakizashi. I see you have acquired a new one?”

“Mhm.” 

_“What?”_ There was an undercurrent of threat in his voice, causing you to stiffen in recognition of a mistake. “Ah, yes Pein-sensei!” Kisame was snickering behind Pein’s back. Even if he only got to test you out and was now excluded from this, he got to hang out if he wanted and watch you squirm. Yeah he grew to care about you and all in a more brotherly way, but many 'siblings' get a laugh out of seeing one another get into trouble. 

Pein seemed slightly mollified. “Good. You will not be using it at first.”

“Why?” You asked and immediately regretted it; Pein affixed you a withering glare that clearly stated, _‘don’t question me, runt!’_ “You will not always be _able_ to use it, case in point, five minutes ago.”

“Of course sensei.” This was going to get old quick, but you needed the training and you’d be the first to admit it. Just being a medic with some flashy chakra moves wasn’t going to cut it forever, and you allowed yourself to slack off in certain disciplines. “There is a time and place for everything. For now you will not use the wakizashi until I see that you are able to wield your katana on its own proficiently. Beyond that you will begin dual-wielding them.”

You nodded, afraid to say anything. It was best to keep your mouth shut for now.

“I shouldn't need to remind you that you're to continue practicing as a medic. That’s what you’re here for, never forget it. Also, meditate every day and gather all the chakra you can contain. Preferably in the morning when you awaken. You're going to need as much as possible."

“Yes sensei.”

“Now.” He withdrew a weapon of his own from the depths of a sleeve, a dark metal bar tapering into a katana shape as Pein bent his will upon it. You concentrated on this object, knowing full well what it was meant for. This was a chakra receiver. In a way not totally dissimilar from Samehada, it tends to complicate things where chakra is concerned. You glanced at Kisame out the corner of an eye at this thought. He was enjoying himself apparently, still wearing that mile wide grin. You’d make his life hell for laughing at you later…oh yes, yes you would, because now he deserved it for making you feel like a brainless idiot in front of Pein. Due to that (oh _fucking_ joy) now you’d have to train harder than before! Though, it wasn't easy to put aside the fact that Kisame was playing nice earlier. If he wanted to be an asshole he could’ve crushed you in 1.5 seconds like the sword-novice you are. Then Pein would be _unbearable_ , as if he wasn’t already.

“Your footwork...”

“Yes?”

“…Is nonexistent.” 

You almost slumped then remembered getting smacked rather hard in the lower back for doing that in your youth, on your first day. Your other academy-appointed sensei complimented you on your perfect posture a few times after that when your team mates were slouching off to lunch. 

Pein eyed you for a minute, expecting it, but you kept your head up, shoulders back, then resumed training with a cold note of how he didn’t teach you to make yourself unreadable to the foe for no reason at all. “Why is it that you cannot do that around myself or the others?” Pein asked sharply after.

“I see you all as allies, not enemies, sensei.”

“I see. Well then…” The rest of the night hauled itself by so slowly you dared think it would never end. But when it did, you couldn’t be more grateful that it was time for bed, and moved back to the hotel as quick as you burning muscles would allow. You picked up two bottles of water from a vending machine in the hotel staff room right off the lobby then went upstairs, gulping the contents of one of these so fast you nearly took the whole bottle on one breath. You were halfway through the second bottle by the time you got to your room and opened the door. Itachi was up actually, sharpening his katana ironically enough, and the television was on. It was the news as usual. You wrinkled your nose at the sight of the tacky news anchors from before and set your half finished water bottle down on the bedside table, took your cloak off, hung it up and went into the bathroom. “Do you ever watch anything good, Itachi?”

“The news _is_ good.” He protested mildly. “We established this before.”

“Oh yeah, when they barged in on Tsunade. That’s right.” You were getting changed into your pajamas behind the partially closed bathroom door in the darkness. They were a boring heather gray fitted tank top and a pair of comfortable, baggy, slightly ratty black sweatpants that probably should’ve been thrown away a couple years ago. You dropped your sheathed katana and wakizashi down on the floor beneath your cloak and set your bag o’ tricks next to them, as well as your senbon holsters. “Anything new about that?”

“No. Konoha is avoiding spreading further information like the plague.”

“Yeah, because the plague _is_ upon them.” Itachi looked up at you from where he was now polishing his katana. “What?”

“The poison epidemic has become more like a plague when you think about it. It’s everywhere and it’s in everything because it's waterborne. And though they are filtering water out now as much as they can and taking all precautions possible, all anyone can do is nip it in the bud from spreading further. Besides,” You added, now putting the window screen back into the window and closing it, then pulling the drapes closed. It was still pitch black outside with the exception of the full moon, but a low chill had set in now that your muscles no longer burned with exertion. “I was thinking of hitting them again.”

“What’s the point?”

“Money.” You said, now coming over to the bed and turning the covers down on your side. “We need all we can get right? So once I got them by the balls I’ll offer to sell them the antidote. Actually, “ You sat down. “Since the antidote is so complex and composed from a series of unusual components, and they’d need to distribute it on a personal basis, people would go broke really fast pissing away their money for peace of mind that everyone in their families is healthy in the end. Even _if_ they only have allergy problems and they’re being germophobic. Between that and the price for the antidote recipe itself, as an example, Konoha alone would have such a dent in its budget that they would have a hard time retaliating against other nations in war. And they aren’t the only ones. The infected nations altogether will experience that problem.”

“There is a severe flaw in that plan Saiya.” Itachi warned. “They will learn your style of poison.”

“Oh no no, " You batted this comment away airily. "That’s nothing. It can be dealt with.” You finally laid down and put your head on the pillow. “I’m working on this plan as I go along. I’ll make a side trip on our way back. Besides, its a business opportunity. I realize that I need to come up with a way to make more money so I'd only take a percentage for myself, now knowing that they hit my damn wine cellar and I'm going to need a new location for--"

“--You should speak to Leader about it first.”

“He’ll probably say yes you know, so why bother?” You asked.

“You're only saying that because you know he will disagree.”

“….” He was right. This idea was risky. Every single ninja nation was especially on their guard these days and going alone was a death wish. That little stunt you pulled with torturing and killing Shizune was half-baked and you were lucky that it worked at all, and it wouldn’t of happened at all if it weren’t for Zetsu. “Hey you aren’t going to rat on me are you Itachi?”

“Only if I see that you try to go through with it.”

This was a curious response. Why would he really give a shit in the end? But with Itachi you never know. He’s so enigmatic in his ways you can’t tell what he's up to, until it’s too late for you to do something about it. 

“Rat.”  
“Bitch.”  
“Bite me.”  
“Blow me.”  
“Disgusting!”  
“Not for me it isn’t.”

You laughed at him and cuddled up to your pillow. “You’ve been breaking a certain rule since I said you could stay with me, you know.”

“What might that be?”  
“Don’t you remember me saying something about how, ‘if you’re in my room at this hour ever again, it better be because we fucked?’”  
“You were serious?”  
“I have to be serious around you. I don’t want to overload your poor brain by joking around, y’know—uh?” The Uchiha was suddenly looming over you, looking down into your soul with those gorgeous, impenetrable black eyes of his. “We could.”  
“Are _you_ serious?”  
“No. I can't be, since seriousness overloads your brain.”  
“Oh hush you, using my own words against me…how low can you….go.” You trailed off because upon asking that question, he placed one finger between your thighs on your nether region. Oh dear. “That’s pretty low.”  
“Satisfied?”  
“No actually, I have yet to orgasm.”  
“…” He chose not to retort and got ready for bed himself. 

Conversation ended for the night and both of you slept.

Time passes both sluggishly and quickly for you in the coming days. Pein was more ruthless than ever since he was giving you a crash course in the real deal on swordplay so you’d be prepared for the tournament, plus he’d teach you various other useful tricks whenever you did particularly well on some days. The tournament slept for no one and would soldier right through the weekend. Akatsuki’s turn for the preliminaries was on Sunday and everyone had to be there well before lunch. Townsfolk and foreigners alike flocked to the arena-stadium and barged their way in, flooding the stands with so many people you wondered if arena staff was going to put folding chairs out on the sidelines too. They didn’t do such a thing but people were hanging over the barrier walls to get a good look at the field where 'gladiators' would square off against one another and had been doing so all week for preliminaries. Not every team that signed up made the cut. A good number wouldn't at all.

Akatsuki was one of the last teams, much to Hidan’s chagrin; he wished they’d do it alphabetically so as to get it out of the way, and was therefore bellyaching clear up to the event itself. Mostly he went ignored, but periodically, you found his ramblings both agreeable and hilarious.

‘Preliminaries’ was really a shorthand way to say ‘consecutive elimination rounds’, but there was an obstacle course of sorts that would be set up spur-of-the-moment by arena staff shinobi who specialized in jutsus that altered whole landscapes. The obstacle course came first.

Everyone was sitting, standing or wandering in the shadows within the wide open entrance to the field, every single one of your teammates reminding you of a pride of lions in the manner that they had settled around the room, paced and fidgeted, occasionally snapping at each other, tense and ready to hurry along. All this waiting was killing Hidan, Deidara, Sasori and even got to Kisame a good bit after awhile. Itachi, Konan, Zetsu and Pein were placid as usual and somewhat meditative, while you and Tobi struggled not to get on one another’s nerves (and failed brutally towards the end of the waiting). 

Then the announcer’s voice cut across all your voices and Pein rose from his seat, and started walking outside. Team Leaders always went out first you guessed. It made sense. 

“Why?” Tobi asked childishly.  
“I dunno…because?” You sighed. He wasn't as stupid as he pretends, he should _know_.  
“But why?”  
“Because.”  
“Because why?”  
“Because!!!”

It went on like that until Kisame clonked you both on the backs of your heads while he walked between you. “Come on, quit it. Let’s go, and don’t make us look bad!”

“Errrr…” Tobi hung his head, gingerly touching the back of his bruised skull. “Tobi will be a good boy.”

“Yeah, sure.” You grumbled, rubbing the back of your head and heading outside. 

You didn’t hear a word of what the announcer was saying until the last two words, the only words you needed to hear and thus blocked all the others out.

“….introducing, AAAAKATSUKIII!!!!!!!!” 

You followed the other’s lead and ran and jumped through the wide open doors onto the field, Hidan whooping loudly and crazily as normal, his voice lost under the tremendous roar of the crowd. The opposition was already out, scattered carelessly around behind their Leader as opposed to how all of you dropped neatly into a line behind Pein.  
Best for last you figured; out of all the teams you saw come into Anarchy for the past week you felt that Akatsuki _is_ the very best, or at least the ones who didn't care for boasting. And really, you all _are_ the best. Pein wouldn’t have it any other way. 

The announcer went on to explain the challenge laid out for preliminaries, as was standard operating procedure. “First is the obstacle course. We will chose a random layout now!” You glanced at the others out the corner of your eyes, but they gave no indication as to what to do next. Do you wait, get into some kind of position…what? Was this new, or normal? These are pertinent questions!

A minute later they had chosen up in the announcer’s box, and a kunoichi jumped down from the box and landed smack-dab in the middle of the field. She unrolled a scroll and dropped it down on the ground, did several handseals above it and planted a hand down on the middle of the scroll. A series of ‘bangs’ and ‘booms’ later, with the sound of stone grating against stone and much dust kicked up into the air, the clouds cleared away to reveal high stone walls with various openings here and there.

“Oooo, it’s the labyrinth! In this challenge the Team Leaders will have split their teams into pairs, and each pair will navigate the maze to their designated arena. The labyrinth is filled with traps and trick turns, so be on your guard! Team Leaders, begin pairing off!” The announcer boomed. Pein turned around to face all of you. He motioned to Kisame and Itachi. “You two, to the far right entrance.” He said. They walked towards the specified entrance and waited. “Sasori and Deidara, the entrance next to theirs…” He pointed, and they went to it and also paused there.

“Kakuzu and Hidan, there. Zetsu and Tobi…yes, that one...now Konan and Saiya, the last one on the left.” He finished instructing. You blinked at Konan and went with your now grinning blue haired friend to the ‘starting gate’ so to speak. “Ready?” She asked quietly. You more read her lips than heard her and nodded. “Ready as I’ll ever be!”

“This’ll be easy!” Konan called back. 

“Aaaand...BEGIN!” The announcer yelled.  
Konan motioned for you to follow and you did so. Upon stepping over the threshold into the labyrinth there was dead silence, and you couldn’t see over the walls to tell if the audience was still there or not, as if you'd been transported away into a soundless world. It was eerily quiet in here. You’d be able to hear a pin drop.  
“Wow.” You muttered. “This is freaky.”  
“This labyrinth is built to mess with your head. It’s no surprise that it’s so quiet. We need to be able to hear without being distracted by the audience.” Konan told you. “Come on now. There's not a moment to waste.”

“Do you think we can beat all the others?” You asked a little excitedly. “I mean…well, you know, get there first?”

“Let’s see what we can do.” The other agreed with a small smile. “Stay close to me Saiya. And remember. The whole concept of a labyrinth in a challenge like this is to confuse a person, like a genjutsu. It will aim to turn fellow against fellow and generally drive you insane."

“Right.” 

The maze was chock full of twists and turns. It wasn’t all square but curved, with corkscrews, donuts and other roundabout architectural designs created to make a person nauseously dizzy. “I don’t like this at all; it’s too quiet.”

“I agree.” Konan assented quietly, glancing around. “There is the possibility that we lucked out and got an easy route but then again, I doubt it.”

Soon you saw why this place was so quiet on your end. The one trap you came across looked to have already been tripped. A pit full of spikes sat wide open, a sizeable gap that you could definitely jump over. There wasn’t a corpse down there, but an old green flak jacket had fallen in and was tented over several of the slender spikes. Both of you stopped short and stared at the well of spikes, and you narrowed your eyes. “That can’t be all.” You stepped close and noticed a very thin ray of light from a seam on the stony wall. You moved to the edge and prepared to leap over but Konan seized the back of your cloak and dragged you away in time for the walls on both sides of the spike pit to slam together. They stayed together for a second then slid back open. You turned to Konan. “Thanks.”

“Be careful.”

“You can go first?”

She sighed and tripped the trap again. The wall-blocks slammed together and she leapt up on top of them, and then hopped off just before they retracted open again. “Your turn Saiya!” She called from the other side. She tripped it for you this time and you bounced nimbly atop the blocks then hopped off and landed beside Konan awkwardly, almost stepping on her feet. “Aaa…oops…” So much for being a graceful kunoichi!

“Klutz!”

“I’ve been training with Pein all week and he had me up really late last night. I’m going on like three hours of sleep, here!” 

“Now’s not the time to talk about that.” Konan said. “Let’s press on.”

Except for a few pitfalls and some close calls involving kunai-and-wire traps, the maze proved easy. You both found the place you were to go to, identifying it by the fact that it was a wide open space with no traps. It was a round little arena with the highest walls yet. Blood was dried on the ground from past battles, and on the walls too. There were no skeletons or signs of your opponents.  
“I hope the maze didn’t get em’.” You mused. “Then this would be _too_ easy.”  
“It’ll be too easy regardless if they make it or not.” Konan answered knowlingly. “Didn’t you get a good look at them earlier? They do not exactly appear intelligent.”  
You sneered. “Hey, look at Hidan, he’s smarter than he looks and acts. They could be the same.”

“Ohhhh my my, looky ere’ Koro.” A rough male voice called out, and you both looked up to see a chrome-dome with a huge lower lip and prominent nose and what at first glance looked like a flat-busted woman standing beside him, sporting curly brown hair in a ponytail and a makeshift chain-choker criss-crossed around her neck.  
“Yes. I am glad they made it.” Baldy said. “It is good to see that Akatsuki is living up to its reputation thus far.”  
You’d think that the effeminate man would sound all proper; with the elegant lines that composed his thin face giving him an almost delicate, cultured appearance. But he was the rough sounding one, with a throaty growl of a voice cultivated by beastly quantities of alcohol and drugs. It was almost startling to note that the chrome-dome was the one who spoke perfectly with a clear voice that carried, like a senator of yore. His sheer height, thickly muscled frame and wide shoulders would imply an equally heavy voice with more ridges than a mountain. If one went off visual expectations alone, it'd be easy to initially confuse the two.

“Less talk, more walk.” You said, body lowering into a defensive position. Konan said nothing and flung ten paper shuriken with a pass of her hand. The bald fellow named Koro laughed and didn’t bother evading, but his partner made a face and dodged away. Koro sidestepped a few of the paper projectiles at the last moment but took one in the shoulder. He stopped laughing and his eyes widened almost comically. “OW!”  
You focused on your Fire symbol and set the paper buried into his flesh ablaze. He screamed and made a grab for it, succeeding both in setting his gloves on fire and taking the burning origami out of his shoulder. “AAH! Senna! Do something!”

Senna did three handseals. “Suiton! Flash Flood!” He growled. 

Konan would’ve paled if she wasn’t trying so hard to remain outwardly neutral, but you were on it in a second and leapt besides her, shoulders touching, and fitted your hands together in the sign of the ram. Your shield symbol activated and encapsulated both of you in a bubble-like shield that gleamed in a faint aurora of color. Senna’s Flash Flood jutsu hammered against the shield and doused Koro's burns, filling the area momentarily and then draining out into the maze.   
“That is much like swatting flies with a hammer.” You commented while watching both enemies worry over Koro’s wounds.  
“Indeed it is.” Konan agreed. “And as a plus, we know at least one of them uses water jutsus.”  
“I can handle any element Konan, but it’s you I’m worried about.” You whispered, deactivating the shield.   
“I’ll be fine. Don't think for a moment that some water will be my undoing." She whispered back, pulling the collar of her cloak a fraction higher. “Heh, and you were saying something earlier about being Pein’s student? You can hear yourself talk right?”  
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, you’re right already.” You grumbled. They were still distracted but they could be using it as a ruse. Since you two had your cloaks to hide your ‘intentions’ somewhat, they now had injuries to act as their own smokescreen. Since they turned their faces away you couldn’t read their lips to see what they were saying, just as they couldn't read yours.   
“I’m not waiting.” You mumbled to Konan.  
“Then let us be done with it already.” She placed a hand between your shoulder blades, pushing you foreword. You unsheathed your katana and surged towards them while Konan sent a hail of origami shuriken and kunai their way.  
They waited until the last minute to dodge and Senna unsheathed a pair of sai, blocking your katana with one and aiming to stab you in the ribs with the other. You dropped down, swung beneath it and rose on his other side, your katana now braced against his crossed sai. Now Senna was aiming more to defend and think of something with your speed and agility. He barely saw you move earlier. Speed always would be one of your greater attributes, with or without the sigils.  
Konan kept raining lethal origami on Koro while you worried about Senna. Though you weren’t too worried, and in keeping with a new plan, began counting down. _’Five.’_

You smirked behind the high collar of your cloak and began dodging more, blocking every so often, and getting a stab in as often as you could. Senna was excellent with his sai. He was also very frivolous with his movements and wasted time and energy on pointless flourishes, spinning his sai and extra-fancy footwork and so on, whether or not the audience could see this now, though it was likely they had eyes on the action from above. _’Four.’_ You smoothly evaded one of the sai as it whistled through the air towards you, and with a jerk of the hand and application of a chakra string, Senna had that sai right back in his hand again. 

_’Three.’_

You blocked another flying sai from hitting you in the heart and glanced over to see how Konan was doing. Her opponent Koro was heavily into using ninjutsu, whereas Senna liked using taijutsu and small supplemental jutsus involving his weaponry. That water style attack from earlier was probably just kept to throw the enemy off guard. Konan made eye contact with you and you gave a curt nod, leaping to the side as the same time as her and switching places. “Ey’! I’m your opponent!” Senna bellowed.   
“She isn’t any longer.” Konan informed him coldly, throwing a particularly large origami shuriken at him. He tried to cut it apart with his sai but now he was beginning to slow down. His reaction time was _a lot _slower.__

__Konan glanced at you again, inquisitively this time, and you briefly held up a pair of fingers signifying, _’Two.’_ She nodded once and continued on._ _

__Koro generated a storm of icicles that flew right at you and pierced into the wall that you once stood in front of. Some were smaller and bounced off the stone wall and shattered. The fact that they could penetrate solid stone at all was somewhat alarming.  
A second wave came. This time you sheathed your katana and swerved out of the way but held an arm out in the path of the jutsu. The left arm. _ _

__You know…the one with the ‘Ghost’ sigil?_ _

__You grimaced behind your cloak and bit your tongue, tasted blood but ignored it and the small ‘Ghost’ sigil began to glow hesitantly. Your arm was perforated full of icicles, right up to midway of your bicep. Koro made a face at the blood drizzling steadily down, staining the icicles bright red.  
Then it turned translucent and ghostly tendrils wrapped around the appendage, interlacing around the wounds and becoming stained as soon as they were pulled taut. Your nails had lengthened, blackened and sharpened, nearly talon-like in appearance. Koro was spared the sight of bone and sinew attached to a ghost’s arm due to your cloak, which had been torn apart in that sleeve only. It hung in tatters off that arm, fluttering with your movements. Now you walked right towards Koro, your eyes taking on a sinister purple glow, expression relaxed into a poker face._ _

___At that moment, Konan said a single word to her new opponent.  
“One.”  
“Hu…u..uh…” Senna never finished the first word in his sentence. His legs gave way from under him. He was dead before he hit the ground and, now laying face down, Konan spied a senbon stuck into his back where the abdominal aorta once pulsed. Either Senna never felt it or brushed it off as a close call where nothing serious happens…damn, she hoped that _everyone_ Akatsuki faced wasn’t going to be that idiotic. _

__Koro backed away, his hazel eyes wide and frightened at the sight of your ghostly arm. Blood continued to drip steadily from your torn sleeve, but the flow was slowed dramatically because of your ghost arm. The pure chakra there stifled the injury. However, you shouldn't linger like this. There was no telling if it could have long term effects on your body, pulling a stunt like that._ _

__Koro nearly backed into Konan, who grabbed his shoulders and kneed him in the lower back. He gave a bellow of pain and fell onto one knee while you moved towards him and then shoved your ghastly hand into his chest where his heart is, purposefully plundering around for the valuable organ. He tried to strain away from both of you but Konan kept him down, and now he was on both knees. “AAAAAH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!”_ _

__Konan winced at the volume and you ended it, wincing a bit yourself. After crushing his heart you pulled your hand out and grinned lopsidedly at Konan. “Nice one.” She commented. “I thought you could only do it to your whole body though.”_ _

__“Pein-sensei put a flea in my ear and I wanted to see if he was right. I guess he was, I can do it after all!”_ _

__“Good.” She said. “Now we wait.” She let the corpse drop and moved to the other side of the small arena where there were no lukewarm bodies lying around. You followed her. “Okay.”_ _

__You didn’t know how much time elapsed. But it felt like a year before the labyrinth walls slid down with an immense rumble and cloud of smoke. You and Konan clamped the fabric of your cloaks over your mouths and noses to spare hacking up a lung._ _

__When the walls were gone, only one person from the other team was standing; their leader on the other side of the maze. Pein was still where you all left him as well. There were corpses littering the ground everywhere. The labyrinth was a chilling preliminary course; the audience could only see a few parts during the process wherever the cameras could get a good angle from above. At the end, the onlookers got to see all the corpses left behind and wonder how they died in the ways they did. From the looks of it everyone went easy on their opponents. This was very much likely due to the fact that none of these morons were to be taken seriously._ _

__“OOOO! Only their Team Leader is standing, that’s not good!” The Emcee blared._ _

__“Yes, and he wouldn’t be standing either if he had to go in too.” Konan said to you. You nodded. “Look at him, he’s weak in the knees!"_ _

__“Well he just sent his team to their doom, how would _you_ be in his situation?”_ _

__You snorted derisively. “I’d be _happy_ they died, obviously they’re worthless.”_ _

__“Perhaps so, but now its time for the Leaders to fight.” Konan pointed out. “And you know how Pein is.”_ _

__“Ohhhh, this won’t be pretty at _all_. I can’t wait!”_ _

__Konan shook her head at first then started laughing. She couldn’t help herself; you were so enthusiastic it was kind of funny._ _

__“Now for the final match between the team leaders…gentlemen, move to the center of the field, please!” This was going to be a mockery, and the anticipation of another kill wavered over the whole arena like a cloud of bloodlust. The outcome was a forgone conclusion, and all the Master of Ceremonies up there with his microphone was doing, was making sure that the dead man walking made it to his appointment with the gallows._ _

__Pein was there before the eye can blink but the other guy looked almost like he was trying not to piss himself. He got there, slowly but surely. It was pretty sad. He didn’t have a shred of courage left after he saw that no one from his group survived.  
All he could do now was convince himself that his people fought and died well in the face of overwhelming odds. Except knowing them, they underestimated their opponents and died like dogs instead. Now it was his turn to try and get a good shot in before Pein pulverized him, too._ _

__

__“Aaaaand…BEGIN!”_ _

__Yeah, he didn’t get a chance. The guy didn’t even get to move and he was dead already. Pein was in front of him instantly and tore his throat open with one hand and killed him on the spot.  
It was such a small thing really. It took no effort whatsoever on Pein’s part. He looked exceedingly bored, actually. But it was scary even to you. Yet everyone else in Akatsuki thought it was hilarious, most of them started laughing except Itachi and Kakuzu and Zetsu, and you also started to chuckle after a minute. _ _

__“And that’s it folks, Akatsuki will move on to the tournament next week! The next preliminary round in a half hour will be Teaaaam Risa versus Theeeee Kentai Clan!” There was a general roar of approval from the audience and Pein motioned for everyone to leave the field. You all met up outside the arena after that, which was fairly empty right now. People started filing out, seeking food or a bathroom during the half hour break._ _

__“That was a ripoff Pein. I want my money back.” Konan teased, to which Pein shook his head and faced the group. You did a double take. “Whoaaa Kakuzu, since when did you get a sense of humor?”_ _

__“I’m _right here_.” Kakuzu growled. _ _

__“Eheh..heh…” You rubbed the back of your head with your ghost-free hand._ _

__“What the fuck IS that?” Hidan asked, coming over to look. You held your ghostly arm out for people to see. “I did it on purpose. Kind of twinges, though." Since it looked as though no one believed the understatement, you relented and added, "Ah, twinges really bad that is. Actually, it hurts like a bastard."_ _

__“There you go Kakuzu, you can charge admission for people to see the Exorcist.”_ _

__“Shut the fuck up.”_ _

__“Make me, bitch.”_ _

__“Oh yeah? C’mere pansy-boy—“_ _

__“-WHAT’D YOU CALL ME!?”  
“YOU HEARD ME LOUD AND CLEAR!” You both were in each other’s faces now. Kisame gave a hearty laugh and Deidara snickered while forming what so far appeared to be a clay frog. Tobi started tittering like a schoolboy too._ _

__“KEEP IT UP AND I –WILL- SACRIFICE YOU TO LORD JASHIN!!”_ _

__“NOT IF I SACRIFICE YOU FIRST!!!”_ _

__“OH YEAH!?!?”_ _

__“YEAH WHAT?! WHAT?!!?”_ _

__Kisame was restraining you and Kakuzu was restraining Hidan since Konan said she’d pay him to do it. And they were both having a _bear_ of a time holding you both back._ _

___“Know what’d be funny, un?” Deidara said to Sasori, smirking._  
“Mm?”  
“If those two got paired up during the tournament, un.”  
“Oh, that’s cruel.” Wight stated.  
“And unusual.” Darke added immediately thereafter. 

__“For their opponent perhaps.” Sasori admitted.  
“No it’d be beneficial for their opponent. They’d be too busy trying to kill each other, un.” _ _

__Pein cleared his throat loudly and purposefully. “As far as I know the tournament itself begins tomorrow. If preliminaries run slightly longer than planned it should begin on Tuesday instead. Be here at the same time as you were today.” He paused to see if he forgot anything, then shook his head at himself. “That will be all.” Pein then excluded himself from the group and left because he didn’t want to be associated with all of you at present with how you and Hidan were screaming like hooligans._ _

__“Hey, let’s make bets on who would win and you two can let them go at it, un.” Deidara suggested to Kisame and Kakuzu. Kakuzu made a face, tightening his grip around Hidan’s shoulders. “No one is betting unless I get to as well!”_ _

__“Oh come on don’t be such a wet blanket!” Tobi exclaimed, then broke into a fresh giggle-fit because you stomped on Kisame’s foot to make him let go but it didn’t work. “OW! What the hell! TOBI! It’s-NOT-funny! OWW! HEY!”_ _

__Yes. This wasn’t about to end for awhile.  
Poor Kisame and Kakuzu._ _


	23. The Walking Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the tournament starts off; Akatsuki begins with a terrifying combination: Hidan, Kakuzu and yourself.  
> How can one win against foes that don't stay dead?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all; thanks again for the reviews; kudos and reads! Sorry that I've taken so long to post this. I've been otherwise engaged. As for the title, I promise it's not meant to be a ripoff from the show. I meant it as more of a comment towards the undying nature of three specific fighters, some might refer to it as 'Team Zombie' since Hidan is the only one until now who could survive Kakuzu's fighting style (read: he doesn't care who is in the way) and now of course, the reader character is able to survive that fighting style as well. Team Zombie has acquired a ghost! Bwahahahahaaaa!
> 
> Mind you, this is 30 pages long on my pc here, and I was only able to edit this on and off with things going on in my life so hopefully I didn't miss anything.

The Walking Dead

 

Food smells flooded the streets and you wandered between them, seeking a nice place to eat. Kisame was with you and Itachi was Jashin-knows-where. The others were all scattered around the city by now. 

“See anything?” Kisame asked.

“Not as yet.” You replied. “You?”

“Nah. Let’s pick one already.” 

“Hey it’s up to you, you’re the one who decided to buy dinner.” You protested lightly while crossing your arms and huddling into your cloak. It was dinner time and since the sky darkened earlier and earlier these days, cooler air was settling and you were chilled to the bone. Better yet, it would be even colder out if it weren’t for the simple fact that so much body heat accumulated between the constantly moving throngs of people and gusts of warmed air pushing out of doors every time one was opened, and plumes of blissfully fragrant steam gushed out of restaurants and from sidewalk food stands.  
A place was chosen, you were both seated pretty quickly. The cloaks probably had something to do with it, but once you two sat down you took yours off since you didn’t want to risk staining it further. The food here swam with succulent sauces and generous portions. You were getting extra hungry just sitting there and being subjected to the sight of trays of food walking by your table. Kisame might’ve felt the same way but you would never know because he opted to start talking very quickly after the waitress left with your orders. 

“So how’s training all week?”

“Sucky. He’s brutal.”

“Of course he is. He’s a bastard towards the rest of us with our mission assignments so it only makes sense he’d be rough on you as his student.” Kisame confirmed.

“Yeah but I get a double whammy. He’s my sensei AND the Leader. I can’t escape no matter what now.” You grumbled, glancing around at the decor.

“What d’ya mean?”

“When I was still attending the Grass Academy I was able to skip training with him on occasion due to missions from the Ninja Council. Since he was training me in secret he had to abide by whatever missions I had to do for my country at the time and let me take care of them or else people would know something was off. Now that I don’t have that excuse anymore I’m screwed doubly hard.” 

“Makes sense. It’s good for you, though.”

“Yeah but Blue-kun…all that mixed with my everyday shit? Though it isn’t an overload 24/7 all that has to happen is a mission shows up right after Pein-sensei’s done mopping the floor with me, then I’d have to go get ready and meanwhile, slam my fucking forehead against a tree or something until a good idea oozes out of one ear so I can get my mission done on time and I’ll hopefully return in one piece, then, oh yeah, gotta make sure there’s some things in the fridge so everyone doesn’t starve in my absence.” You stuck a finger in his face before he could think of suggesting it. “And instant ramen doesn’t qualify as nourishment.”

“You really hate that stuff huh?” Kisame asked, chuckling partially through his sentence as usual. You nodded grimly. “I’d rather stick my tongue in a mouse trap.”

“Say what you want. That doesn’t change the fact that it got us by until you came along.”

“It’s still nasty! Why subject yourself to that steaming crock of shit when you can have the real thing?”

Kisame shook his head slowly. There'd be no talking to you about it. “Back on topic, if all this is that much of a problem you will have to figure out what the most important things are and prioritize.”

“That’s not possible. Everything I do is for a reason. And what do you take me for? Come on, I’ve thought of _that_ already; if it was so simple I’d have it figured already.”

“I know that but sometimes doing things like cooking just isn’t practical when you’re constantly busy.”

“I agree, but when I said I am going to do something, I do it.” You admitted reluctantly. “Truth be told I don’t want to drop any of the activities that are making my life insane. It wasn’t all _that_ tough to manage all those years ago, though admittedly I didn't have the same obligations I do now." You shifted your glass on the table, watching the smear of water left in its wake. "Occasionally I remember stuff on and off from back then. Is it sad that I want it to be over with already? We only started training again on Sunday."

“Nobody said it was going to be easy.” Kisame said after taking a sip of his drink. “And you know that too. From the past.” He could tell that you just wanted to bellyache about your woes for a little while. Normally Kisame wasn't one to put up with whining, but this time around he didn't mind it so much. All the things that you stated were reasonable enough; he understood why you'd feel so encumbered.

“Yeah. Its still ridiculous, but I have to get used to it. Growing pains, you know. That’s all it is." You picked at a cuticle, caught yourself, and stopped. "I’m the medic, Pein-sensei put me in charge of everyone’s health, inside and out, so I _really must_ handle the overall diet of the team where I can, in addition to caring for injuries.” You considered for a moment then pushed your empty glass away and the waitress caught it on the way by, hardly skipping a beat. You tapped your black-painted nails against the table surface and made eye contact with Kisame, deciding at last to admit to something you’d kept secret from all. Something you had been doing since you were young. “There is _one_ ‘activity’ of sorts that I’m going to hold off on. For now.”

“Which thing is that?”

“First of all Blueberry-kun, understand that what I’m about to say has been told to no one. So keep a lid on it.”

He agreed straight off, though perhaps too hastily. “Sure.” 

“Know how I have sometimes mentioned that I’m immune to my own poison? That’s because I put some in my own food and drink, just a small amount. The truth of the matter is that I have no choice but to do that because I can’t risk people trying to use my own chemicals against me." You began fidgeting with the corner of a napkin, folding and unfolding its layers. "On the days when I’d hide in my room, or keep well away from view to the point no one saw me for two straight minutes, were the days I was _particularly_ sick from it. Usually that happens when I increase the dosage, but I never fall deathly ill. I can absorb a fatal dosage of all the stuff I make and only get sick and still be able to function, but anyone else would die.”

Kisame stared at you. Most would be horrified at this news, but instead, he was a bit agitated. “I can’t fucking believe you!!”

You sighed and leaned back in your seat, looking back at him and biting your lower lip. If he felt that way about it, how would he act if you told him that you were considering doing it for everyone else in Akatsuki too? The enemy could use your own concoctions against _them_ too, if they wanted to be nasty and stick one of the senbon you throw at them into one of your allies. You had the antidotes for those and all, and if you’re doing things right the enemy won’t be able to try it, but there were other benefits as well. If someone can live through a poison _you_ make, they can live through most common pathogens used in battle.  
But it was best not to bring that up. He’d probably flip his lid.

“I’ll pull an Uzumaki and say, ‘Buh-lieve it!’” You said, drumming your fingers on the table. “I am only going to have to stop it now because it _does_ compromise my health in the end. I need every ounce of strength I can get.” 

“You’re insane.” Kisame informed you. As though he had to be the one to tell you. “I can’t fucking believe you.” 

“Does my reasoning not help?” 

“I get what you’re saying but that’s still ludicrous!” He grumbled. All the laughter had gone from him, he was upset. This news got to him more than you believed it should. 

“Do you have _any_ idea how dead I’d be if it weren’t for that?” You asked quietly, all movement in your fidgety hands halted. “I’d have been murdered ten times over.” 

Kisame wasn’t so outraged that he refused to see reason. He was slightly mollified with this bit of information but he obviously continued to disapprove of it. “I know it’s helped you a lot. But it’s still crazy that you have to do something like that.”

“Regardless, not even Sasori would be able to come up with an antidote in enough time Kisame.” You said. “Something had to be done. I didn't always have people watching my back."

“Yeah.” Kisame wasn’t thoroughly convinced yet. He kept his mouth shut on the topic and switched it over to the tournament instead. “So you and Konan did well earlier huh?”

“I think we could have done better.” You protested lightly.  
“I didn’t really get to do anything. They saw Itachi, stupidly looked him in the eye, and he killed both at once.” Kisame said, laughing again. “All I did was stand there.”

“That sucks.”  
“Yeah but on the bright side we were probably done first.”  
You pouted. “Konan and I wanted to be done first!”  
“Either way we’ll never know who did.” Kisame said, sensibly enough.  
“True that.” Dinner was finished. Kisame didn’t let you pay though, something you were confused towards. “Hey, what?’ He might've said earlier that he was going to pay, but you didn't plan on letting him. As he was grinning and sniggering about something, you repeated, _“What?”_  
“My treat. I won 500 ryou off you earlier.”  
“WHAT? You guys DID bet!?”  
“Even Itachi did. Except he won 5,000. I only had a little bit with me.”  
“What the hell…” You muttered. “I thought you guys were screwing around when you said that.”  
“Hell no, hahaha-haaa!” Kisame laughed. “We play for keeps and you know that!”  
“Did anyone bet on Hidan?”  
“Eh, I’m not sure; probably not since you still had your ghost arm at the time. He might be immortal but it’s not something people know how to deal with at this point.”  
“Including _me_.” You whined, getting up and half-hugging him for buying you dinner. “Thanks Blueberry-kun!”  
“Nah, don't mention it.” He patted you on the back between the shoulder blades, inadvertently steering you in the direction of the door. You squeaked and nearly fell over, being a lot shorter and lighter and therefore easy to tip over.  
Kisame snorted and left the restaurant with you. You were cute sometimes. But there wasn’t a need to admit that. 

Upon heading outside and seeing that it was getting dark again, you heaved a sigh and turned to face Kisame as he left the restaurant after you. “I hate to cut this outing short but I better go to the docks now. Pein-sensei will _kill_ me if I’m not at least five minutes early.”

“Yeah he will.” Kisame agreed and watched you flit away through the streets, disappearing between clouds of passers-by easily, the only thing that made you stand out were the curly red clouds on your cloak. But you were gone in the blink of an eye and soon were at the docks, searching for that wide open space in the midst of high stacks of boxes that Pein chose to make use of as a training space for now. The reason why was to limit the area you had to run around in so you would ultimately be forced to face him rather than dance out of reach and buy yourself time to think. He liked to make you think on your feet and work instead of giving you the option to examine the situation for an extended period of time from afar where you could be unharmed. No. Pein knew you were a prodigy, damned if he didn’t know. He would keep you moving and analyzing and put that brilliant mind to work with limited room to spare. You were capable of so much and proved it whenever you trained with him.

He also enjoyed training with you because he seldom to never got a challenge and all that energy gets pent up. That isn’t a good thing. You became an energy outlet as a student. This partially explained why he was such a bastard towards you in training sessions.

This session was different tonight, though. He was not at the usual spot. Instead there was a slip of paper stuck onto a crate by a kunai. In Pein’s neat, slanted handwriting, it read:

**Safehouse.**

_'Oooookaaaaaay...'_ New place to train today. But why?

Questioning this, you zipped along the shoreline in the direction of Konan’s place. She had once told you that it is one of Akatsuki’s safe houses. When you got there though it appeared as though Konan wasn’t there in the house since no lights were on and it was too early for bed. It was dead silent, no crickets or anything; they had been disturbed by your presence. The wind puffed gently through the trees, moving in from the sea that now shimmered serenely under the three-quarters-full moon.  
Pein wasn’t there either. Or at least you had yet to see him. You certainly weren’t early considering you were a few minutes early to the docks, and now you had to come here instead so if anything you were late. It was far away from that dockyard, and on the outskirts of Anarchy, in the fields surrounding, just up a mile and a half or so from the beach. It was too quiet here. Something wasn’t right. 

You glanced around again. There wasn’t a place to conceal yourself right now, not until you got up to the house where some trees were as well. It was a little ways foreword still. But really, the silence was bothering you. Each warning bell in your head was cautiously tinkling like wind chimes on the cool sea breeze and your body continue to walk foreword steadily and cautiously, immediately concealing all intentions from view per your training. It was another thing you prided yourself on; the fact that a foe would not be capable of reading you through body language alone. You were totally unpredictable unless the enemy had a doujutsu.  
Which is exactly what you were worried about here. Pein had a doujutsu alright, arguably the most formidable out of them all. You once mended the strain on his sight. The only doujutsu that didn’t run the risk of eventual blindness was Byakugan to your knowledge. Why that was you weren’t certain since you never got to dissect a Hyuuga but you had seen Byakugan in action and even outwardly it appeared to be ‘built in’ better than Sharingan or Rinnegan as examples. You noted that blood circulation increased to such a point that veins rose against the skin around their eyes, and said blood vessels were also larger than normal as far as you observed. Sharingan was _so_ hard to invoke (many of the Uchiha Clan, you were told, didn’t get one tomoe much less three) and so taxing on then chakra supply and the body that you wondered if it was indeed something that was supposed to happen, or some genetic mutation that occurred in one strain of DNA. Rinnegan was even rarer and vastly more mysterious. When you healed Pein’s eyes you got a very specific sense from them, a lot as though they had a personality. That’s how it was with the Sharingan as well but at another level, like animals that you would be wise not to tread upon. The Rinnegan was calm, cold and calculative to a fault, and overall deadly like a poisonous serpent sunning itself on a rock…whereas the Sharingan felt like a mix of things; a murderous yet curious and frighteningly intelligent and sharp. Of course, that could’ve been something else. That ‘window to the soul’ hoodoo crap maybe. Or perhaps just latent thoughts floating in their minds.

Speaking of thinking, you were keeping your head as crystal clear as could be with those small warning bells ringing through the quiet, occasional calculations of your mind. Pein wasn’t going to take a run at you from the front in this situation. Equally, he wasn't likely to attack from behind, because normally that would be expected in an ambush. _Normally._ Pein was pretty unpredictable himself. While didn’t have the fortune to be trained so he wouldn’t express his intentions through body language, he knew his own habits and would trick an enemy with them. To your knowledge you were the only person who really erased all that but that was due to Pein’s rigorous training.

Here’s the problem. All that brainpower at your disposal and you overlooked something that now cost you heavily: that you were guarded against the wrong person.

Footsteps thudding against the sandy ground, waist-high grass whispering and slapping against someone’s cloak and legs and ankles. The ‘shh-ING!’ of metal…oh, you avoided that effortlessly, your muscles tensed and fired, sending you into the air, your body twisting automatically so you’d land on your feet. You saw who it was that attacked you. It was Hidan, with a spike usually reserved for voodoo purposes in hand. He threw it at you and then tore his tri-bladed scythe off his back, swinging it at you and sending snippets of tannish-green grass flying. The handle telescoped along its corrugated steel line, swinging around and towards your head. You ducked below it and rolled when he jerked it downwards like fishing line to slam its triple bladed lure into your back, thankful that he missed you by a mile with his earlier spike.

“What the fuck are you playing at?!” You yelled at Hidan, who couldn’t keep a serious expression on his face any longer and broke down laughing wildly. He swung the blades back and the line retracted. It was a hard weapon to use. And you always viewed it as impractical. But it was really quite perfect for his needs. You also saw that it wasn’t as hard to use as you thought.

“EEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAHEHEHAHAHAAAAA!!!!!!” He cackled crazily, charging through the grass at you and swinging his scythe aimlessly like a wild man. The grass was making it hard to move. It was tangling around your ankles and making it all the more tiresome to dodge continuously. There was no way you could use your katana against that scythe while he had such momentum. The blades were projected outwards and your arms weren’t long enough to hold it off, and you knew Hidan possessed monstrous strength. So did Kakuzu. It kind of comes with being ‘immortal’, and in Hidan’s case, his masochism helped a lot as well. If one doesn’t care how much in pain one is, in fact, if one _enjoys_ it, this only gives an advantage. 

Prodigy or not though you were bound to slip up sooner or later. In this case it turned out to be in an odder manner. You had no idea that it wasn’t _only_ grass down there. It was Kakuzu’s stringy tentacles camouflaged by the tall grass making it hard for you to move. He had rooted you to the spot from his spot underground. Hidan was a distraction. And right when you took your katana out to use as a machete on those irritating tentacles noosing your ankles, a thick, pointed braid of black tentacles stabbed into your heart from behind. You stopped moving. No questions asked. You couldn’t get to stare down in abject horror like they do in the movies, where the impaled are mysteriously able to goggle at the object bobbling out of their front where one’s heart is supposed to be. For a whole damned _minute_.

Kakuzu drew the pointed bunch of string from your back and your body dropped, but halted and floated mid-fall because you became translucent and reanimated yourself, shaking your head and floating upright now as a ghost.

“Brrrr…HEY!” You bellowed at him, voice disembodied. “What the hell is wrong with you people?!”

“Very good.” Came Pein’s voice. He stepped out from inside the safe house where he had been watching. 

“Wha?!” You gasped.

Pein waved this aside. “Strategy.” 

“I could’ve stabbed myself instead.” You grumbled.

“It was more amusing this way.” Kakuzu responded dryly from behind. You wheeled on him and glared, eyes flaring into a brighter purple glow. “Shut it! Bastard!”

Pein motioned for silence and repeated himself. “Again, this is for a strategy. Now get over it and listen.”

Oh it hardly must be said, but there wasn’t a choice.  
So you listened.

 

At a later time that night you got to go to your room, clean up, and lay down…very much solid, thanks. Pein taught you an easy trick to move between ghost and human shapes. You had to build up a tolerance to the strain it put on your body but it wouldn’t be a big deal if you worked on it bit by bit, something Pein fully intended for you to do from now on. He said it was about time that you began working on refining your ghost form. Itachi made a point once that was so exactly correct. You never heard him say it but he thought it, and it was true:

_’For all I have heard about this form’s offensive capabilities, it is still far too vulnerable. Something must be done about this.’_

Itachi was already in bed and the lights were out when you opened the door. He was sound asleep, his chest rising and falling regularly, deeply. You had been out a few hours later than normal and felt like kissing him on the temple just so you could tenderly whisper, ‘honey I’m home’ into his ear. But nah. You settled for swapping your cloak and clothes for pajamas. 

The next morning you awoke to the sound of the shower running. But you were too exhausted to be tempted to peek in on Itachi and rolled over in bed, taking most of the covers with you. You didn’t know how long it was later that the dimmed noise of flowing water stemmed to nothing and the door opened. Itachi was fully dressed this time. It was likely that he took his time this morning, as was his custom. He wasn’t one to rush needlessly.

He glanced over at you but said nothing. Since your eyes were closed and you currently lay motionless it was hard to tell if you were awake at all. And he probably had little to nothing to say anyway. But upon noticing that your breathing wasn’t slow and deep, like it is when one slumbers, he nudged you in the shoulder with the backs of his knuckles and sat down on the bed.

“Mmm?”  
“Don't forget that the tournament is in forty-five minutes.”  
“Good morning to you too.” Then it sunk in and you sat bolt upright. “Forty-five?!”  
He nodded once, briefly, black eyes focusing on your amethyst ones. Itachi was already wearing his cloak but it hung open loosely. His hair was slightly damp but was otherwise tied back in the usual low ponytail. 

“Fuck!” You hissed and tore out of bed and into the bathroom. Itachi heard you turn the water on almost immediately after you entered and wondered if you closed the door on the way because he didn’t hear it click or bang shut. He got up and went about gathering some things, strapping on his own belts, his katana, so on, but not before checking everything to make sure he was all set. You were out of the shower in record time, and had your hair in a towel when he finally re-sheathed the katana. He smirked at you when you started flipping out and rushing around the room. “Twenty minutes left. And it takes fifteen to get there if we hurry.”

“Go without me if you want, Itachi, I’ll probably take seven minutes to get ready. And you don't need to get yelled at on my account.” You offered without looking at him, hurrying back into the bathroom to whip the towel-turban off your head and start brushing it hastily, wincing at every knot you encountered and grimacing when you pulled a particularly nasty one, ripping a few hairs out in the process. Itachi could _hear_ the sound from where he was in the room. It didn’t seem very healthy to him.

“Except you will have no choice but to be done in three minutes so we can get there on time.”

“Yeah? Why’s that?”

“Do you really have a moment to spare questioning me?”

He had a point there. Two minutes left. Your hair was brushed and drying out. It would probably be a little moist by the time you got to the arena but only somewhat so, and now you had to run around and grab your things which luckily you piled in the usual spot beneath where you always hung your cloak. You tugged on your knee-high boots then yanked your cloak on after buckling your belts and small packs around your waist, along with the katana and wakizashi, senbon holsters, and so on. “Pein-sensei is KILLING me with this late night training. Literally.” You muttered to Itachi. “Okay, let’s go?” He had already opened up the window and taken out the screen, then motioned for you to follow. He leapt out into the great void of air between the level where your hotel room was and the rooftops of shorter buildings and you followed immediately thereafter. Puh-leeze, shinobi don’t use doors unless they’re dressed up or reporting to someone, or, unless of course, there is no choice _but_ to use a door. Why start now?

With Itachi’s knowledge of the city you both made it there three minutes early. Pein was there, Konan, Zetsu and Kakuzu were there, but the others weren’t. They showed up at the _very_ last moment. Pein led everyone inside once they were all present and accounted for. 

People were already out in the arena but you noticed, it was only three-on-three. Two fighters out locking horns with the other two fighters, and one medic each that were hanging back near the entrances at each end of the field. “We’re next.” Konan informed everyone. “You all should’ve been here a half hour ago. Be mindful of that.” 

No _wonder_ why Pein was mysteriously silent. More so than usual. To the point that it was spooky. Even _if_ he specified differently the other day.

“So I’m guessing you knew this was what was going on today?” You inquired casually. 

“Yes. There is a tentative schedule for the types of matches each day throughout the tournament so no one is ill prepared, except on the days when it’s randomized.” Konan said. “Though nothing is concrete.”

“Great.” You muttered to Kisame, who shrugged his large shoulders and gave his two cents. “Shit happens.”

The current arena battle ended and a second one began. After that, a third and final would happen. You saw that the medic would stay out on the field since they really didn’t fight or at least chose not to. In the case of the other two on each time between rounds however, they switched out one person in one round and then switched both people out the next round. The medic close to the field entrance Akatsuki was behind was asked by his team leader if he wanted to stick it out or swap with someone else. The medic refused.

In the end the team at the other end of the field lost. All left with some kind of injury but none of them died. After Sasori noted this aloud, Konan nodded. “Ah, however, one doesn’t have to hold back. You can kill them if you like. That’s the risk everyone takes. It might not be liked but it is universally accepted.” 

“We’re up agaaaainst…eh? I’ve never fucking heard of them before.” Hidan was reading the chart on the wall. It listed off the match pairings. “Who, un?” Deidara asked.

“Clan…Risa?”

“Oh. They’re from Hidden Earth.” Deidara wrinkled his nose. “They act like hotshots, un.”

“Any good?” Kisame queried. 

“I don’t think so but everyone else does. Nn.” 

The teams trooped off the field and into the antechambers where Akatsuki waited on one side and Clan Risa waited on the opposite end. The team that went into your antechamber all looked around at you and your comrades, an air of nervousness cropping up amongst those beaten, fight-wearied people. Seeing a group of possible opponents dressed all in the same thing is scary enough (indicating possible unity and discipline), but the fact that the uniform was that of Akatsuki made it worse. The stories, the rumors, the legends...all in one room. It was frightening.

Pein went out onto the field and listened to the emcee’s instructions blared over the intercom. You couldn’t hear them very well but Sasori, whom was near the entrance to the field, could hear perfectly.

“Ah. It’s the one we couldn’t participate in last time.” He commented.  
“Tobi forgets which one that is.”  
“The challenges where a medic is required as a third person in the group.” Wight said.  
“It acts as a limitation and a strength of sorts.” Darke rasped.

You blinked and stood up, moving towards the entrance right next to Hidan (you refused to get too close to Sasori) and peered out, leaning around his side a bit. “Eh?”

“We can go into any challenge now. For about a third of the tournament battles a person who can heal injuries is required.” Konan added, watching you peer into the arena field. “The clientele at this stadium is quite different than anywhere else. They want carnage and _lots_ of it, so a medic type is excellent for prolonging it.”

“The longer the fights go on, the more they bet, and each team gets a percentage of the losses as incentive to continue playing the tournament.” Kakuzu pointed out. “Betting officially begins on the first day. One of the people who handles the betting pool is a subordinate of mine so in addition to what we get from the stadium already, we are also cut in to earn a good percentage of the money that is gained from when people bet against us.” You couldn’t see if Kakuzu was smirking behind the high collar of his cloak, but you got the sense that he was. “And we _never_ lose. People want us to. But we do not.”

“So since this is a way to make extra money, which we can never have enough of,” Konan added, half-listening to the emcee. “It’s a good idea to lure the crowd into a false sense of hope that we’ll lose, but it can’t be all the time. So fake it for a bit on some battles to trick them into betting against us, if you don’t then its fine. We win millions from this tournament without fail one way or another.”

It didn’t sound right to you. If Akatsuki has a reputation of never having lost then why would folks continue to bet against them?

“Alright here he comes.” Konan had drawn everyone’s attention to the doorway and Pein came in. He looked around then said, “There will be three rounds, and on each round I can switch two people out. However, one is already predetermined. Saiya. Step forward.”

You did so, however unsure of this whole thing you might be…as always, you wouldn’t disobey your teacher and leader. 

“Saiya won’t leave the field for the whole three rounds.” Pein continued on, his tone clipped and businesslike. He motioned for you to head out first and you did, glancing over your shoulder at the others as you went. Outside the weather was as drab as could be without being freezing cold, but there was a hint of frost in the air. While you looked around at the screaming stands crammed full of onlookers, Clan Risa sent out their own team. Their medic, a mousy-haired tall girl clad in a flowy gray, blue and white kimono-style shirt with tight fitting cobalt blue pants and navy blue sandals, was gulping down a mouthful of spit and adjusting the hitai-ate in her hair emblazoned with the blocky emblem of her village, the Hidden Earth. The other two included a burly middle-aged man with short-as-can-be chocolate brown hair, olive skin and wore a very plain jounin-style uniform in tan and black and presently had a pair of black and white nunchaku swinging between his hands.  
The last of their team was another young woman who donned a blonde braid down to her knees and sewn with a red ribbon, who was wearing a pair of capri-length baggy black pants, a formfitting crimson tanktop and a short-sleeved button-down shirt hanging open. It was off-white and bordered in black with a thinner border of lipstick red on the inside of the black border. She was drawing a handful of shuriken from a pouch on her thigh and scuffed her black sandals on the ground before gradually lowering into an offensive position, looking prepared to pounce as if she were a cat.

You almost slouched in place at the sight of your competition but figured that if you did, Pein would deliver swift punishment to your lower back again and kept straight and confident instead of hunched and depressed in appearance.  
Though once you saw who was going to be out here with you, a huge grin broke out onto your lips. It was Hidan and Kakuzu, who came walking onto the field on your right and left side. Hidan yawned against his left forearm and motioned for you to follow him with his right hand. You did so.

Kakuzu hung back where you had stood a second ago and appraised the opposition briefly, snorted in disgust, then averted his strange red-and-aqua gaze to the emcee’s box. 

“You remember what to do?” He called over to you. Though your back was to him and the volume of this stadium was super high, you knew who he was talking to. “Yeah!” You called back, but did not turn to acknowledge him. The other team wouldn't be able to see any communication this way, when they are too far away to hear a thing, or lip read with those high collars concealing your mouths.

A few feet away Hidan was smirking and whipped his triple bladed scythe off his back, spinning it around the back of his hand before throwing it up in the air and catching the handle behind his back, its line rippling along with it. You didn’t know how he could do that without entangling the blades with the thick cord. It was certainly one of those things that comes with time and practice.

“AAAAAAAAND BEGIN!!!!!!” The emcee blared and right away the young woman with two hands full of shuriken charged chakra into her legs and bolted towards you since you presently didn’t hold any weapons. Hidan and you glanced at one another out the corners of your purple eyes and ran forth at the same time, not exactly the same speed. You outstripped him quickly and when shuriken came flying your way, you pulled out an equal amount of senbon and threw them with all your might, knocking each shuriken out of the air with those needles and making way for you to continue onwards to the kunoichi with the long blonde braid. 

She leapt over the litter of senbon and shuriken buried in the sand and her partner, swinging his nunchaku in figure-eight patterns, darted through her shadow down below and rammed his shoulder against Hidan’s chest before he could bury his scythe in him. This team was prided on their speed and accuracy mainly. But they had tricks up their sleeves as all ninja do. 

Hidan drove a fist into the guy’s gut but he swung the left bar of his nunchuk against Hidan’s head. Hidan’s scythe was between his cranium and the nunchuk in an instant with a resounding ‘clang’ of metal, saving himself some torment and using the opportunity to slam his opponent backwards and knock him off balance, much in the manner a person would use a shield. 

So far Kakuzu and the medic girl in the kimono top had yet to move but she started creeping foreword. Kakuzu kept an eye on her and started towards her when she moved but otherwise kept acting as passive as possible in hopes that the other team would be tricked into thinking that _he_ was the medic. Akatsuki is well known but that doesn’t mean that every person knows each individual’s abilities. Kakuzu was very mysterious in terms of this. His foes never survived and he wasn’t caught on any of his missions so that his moves would not be well documented by anybody, apart from the fight that was his end against the team from Konoha.

So far, this strategy was working great. You decided to let the woman make a nasty cutacross the back of your wrist, parting the fabric of one half-fingered glove and biting into your skin right up to the bone with a tanto she had sheathed beside her shuriken holster. There was a second tanto there as well you noticed, that is, once she drew your attention to it.

Yet somehow she didn’t notice when this second knife went missing from its sheath. Fancy that!

Hidan got the woman's attention, nearly looping her in with her partner with his scythe-cord and you used the chance to move back to Kakuzu. He grabbed your arm more forcefully than necessary. A pointed black thread eased out from the darkness of his sleeve and pierced, glove and all, right into you and began threading the gaping cut on the back of your wrist shut (this was required, as it was your dominant hand, even if you were ambidextrous). The medic girl across from you both cringed from where she was helping her fellow female teammate with a teal glow emanating from her hands. This woman barely escaped Hidan's flying blade to go receive healing. She was slashed up and had senbon sticking into her all over the place. 

From the antechamber Pein and the others watched. Pein disliked that you literally let yourself get hurt at all but it was part of the strategy, and a way to make people bet a little more while they had the opportunity. The enemy would go after you if they knew that Akatsuki’s medic was out front, not hanging back. Kakuzu was better off remaining somewhat removed from immediate harm at any rate. While he was very good at close combat, especially with his Iron Skin maneuver that made him, as Shikamaru once put it, ‘stupidly strong’ and practically impervious to damage, Kakuzu was a _hell_ of a lot better at mid-to-long range with those tentacles of his and the ability to use devastating attacks from each element. His masks covering his surplus hearts, if they were ever revealed, would be too much of a weak point up close. All it took was one lucky cheap shot from behind and he’d be down one life and one element. 

It was too risky so that was why you were out front with Hidan. Besides. A medic directly in the fray is ideal; you could heal him when you had to if absolutely necessary. While this would reveal the part you really played it was acceptable. Hidan could take a lot of punishment, was a masochist to top it off, and would use his own wounds to his advantage. You could adapt to any circumstance that developed in addition to that. And the true beauty of this plan was that while you were currently putting on a show for the crowd, you didn't really _need_ to cure Hidan at all since injuries are an integral part of his jutsu, and Kakuzu could look after himself. However, if a situation developed where they got close enough to take out one of his hearts, you could save it before it was unsalvageable.

So the question remained for Clan Risa; what does each fighter _do_? Everyone in Akatsuki is good for something in particular. They all have such unique abilities it makes them invaluable when arranged together properly. Konan was reminded of seeing girls at the Rain Academy, all skipping after their teacher to a field in the rain to pick flowers. She had been out there folding origami under the shelter of a tree, covering the paper cautiously against the light spray of water droplets on the wind. It wasn’t a downpour that day, it was a sprinkle.

The teacher, a woman who probably should’ve retired as a kunoichi a couple years ago, told the girls that certain flowers compliment each other. Place them properly in an arrangement and they will be stunning together. Grind some up together and they could make a drought capable of putting a person asleep for days, or even a dangerous poison could be made out of plants like nightshade, foxglove, and the seemingly harmless lily-of-the-valley. 

Shinobi are like bouquets, Konan mused. If abilities are matched well they can be perfect together. Like the petals and leaves of flowers.

Back out on the arena field, blossoms of blood clumped sand together in arcs and splatters all over the place. Clan Risa’s two ‘frontliners’ continually ran back to their medic while Kakuzu only mended the nastiest cuts on you and Hidan for show. When Team Risa wasn’t looking you healed some wounds yourself and fixed a few on Hidan, this being possible because of your cloaks. They were perfect for hiding almost anything.

The emcee was busily recounting some details at the fight and concluded the brief review with a supremely annoyed, “So far this fight has been very uneventful, wouldn’t you say, folks?”

The crowd, in agreement, started chanting, ‘Fight fight fight! Kill kill kill!’ They wanted carnage. And lots of it. Konan was right. The audiences at genin, chuunin and jounin finals were not like this at all. They were well behaved and for the most part didn’t want people to die. Usually they’d be appalled and horrified if somebody _did_ perish. 

__Pein instructed mentally to the three of you upon receiving word from Kakuzu’s subordinate.

‘Go in for the kill?’ You thought to yourself, going back to the starting point. ‘Three of us is _overkill_ as it is.’ This whole bit about making money...as a business entrepreneur, it was easy to understand. Akatsuki needed as much cash as possible for the future, and a highly illegal combat sport was a great way to roll in the ryou. Especially since, at current, contracts for mercenary work were few and far between... _so_ few, that hardly anything was being gained from such jobs. But this was all pageantry. The current foe could've been eradicated by one person alone. 

With the crowd rumbling all around, Team Risa fell back to their own starting positions to regroup and hatch a plan of their own. They had taken a leaf out of your team’s book and decided to hatch a plan. The three of you were once again able to communicate in relative privacy.

“Hidan, you'll start off. Saiya, let him hold the lead.” Kakuzu instructed.

“Which one this time?” You asked, drawing level with Kakuzu. Hidan stood with his back to Team Risa and looked between you two. A light wind began to breathe through the stadium, coasting over the bloodied ground and scattering loose grains of sand.

“Ah. Fire, I think.”

“Oh fuck me...you better not incinerate our clothes again, jackass.” Hidan snapped at Kakuzu who shot him a nasty glare. “Not my fault.” He countered coldly.

“Okay guys, come on. Don't start on that. We can’t jump back to square one, not now.” You cut in impatiently. Last evening was rougher than the others before it; a few days worth of training crammed into part of one night. You didn’t want to be awake right now and felt that you had every damn right to be tense and grumpy. While staying at the hotel was an attractive idea...having a relaxing bath, then some chocolate and liquor and catching up on your sleep would make you feel better, it was sadly _not_ an option. You're out in Anarchy’s arena instead, and murder would be your catharsis.

Hey. It works.

Team Risa was ready to go and all three of them this time started across the field of sand towards your group.

“Just remember what we worked on last night and there will not be any problems.” Kakuzu said.  
“We worked on a _lot_ of stratagems.” You commented sarcastically, face set in stone, emotionless as usual in a fight to all appearances unless it was to scorn someone. 

Risa charged.  
Akatsuki ran out to meet them.

Team Risa was talking amongst each other on the way there, trying to cover the distance as quickly as they could. “Like, listen. I, like, didn’t get to tell you guys.” Their medic called to them. “That guy with the, like, funky eyes tried, like, using a freaky jutsu on me earlier to keep me back from getting too close to you guys. Like, be careful, he packs a punch even if he isn’t carrying around a scary-big scythe like that other dude!”

You could barely hear her at this proximity but oh, did she sound like a nasal teenager! Exactly _what_ was the cutoff age for these games?

As Hidan was running he gripped the silvery necklace around his neck and kissed the charm, a triangle enclosed in a circle. You noticed and smirked, a little more conscious of the chain swinging around your own neck. He smirked in turn, throwing a burst of strength into his step so he’d pull ahead. Kakuzu followed after a moment and began on a series of handseals, following right after.

Risa’s more practical tan-clad jounin sighed irritably. “Yeah so what, if we use his comrades as meat shields he won’t dare use those jutsus on us. Keep an eye on him if it bothers you so bad.” Kimono-top girl looked ready to respond but he cut her off at the pass. “Enough talking! They're here!”

The third on the team, the woman with the blonde braid stopped in her tracks and turned around. “What the f-…NO! GET OUT OF THE WAY!! MOVE DAMMIT, MOVE!!!!” She screamed, trying to throw herself out of Hidan’s path, her eyes lancing past him towards Kakuzu. Hidan slashed at her with his scythe and the topmost blade dug hard into her hip as she flung herself to the side, a fine bright mist of blood fanning out in the instance of the wound. It sprayed over Hidan’s front; all over his scythe and hit his bare chest and chin since he had once again opened the top many button-clips of his cloak. But that was not all that was going on.

“What are you screaming about?!” Blondie’s male teammate yelled back, swinging his nunchaku at your head. You hopped back to avoid them and heard, a moment later, a roar of fire and heat accumulating behind your back. Shit. Here it comes!

"Katon; Searing Migrane!"

A blast of fire pulsed out of the area between Kakuzu’s fingers, doubling, tripling, quadrupling in size to envelop a huge area. You and Hidan were the only ones hit by it since the other three skipped out of reach, though barely. There wasn't much room for them to maneuver around the conflagration, despite the sheer size of the arena ring. While they watched hellish clouds of inferno roar and burn in place for as long as Kakuzu willed, the Team Risa ninja all exchanged incredulous looks. “What kind of medic attacks his own team?”

“Duh! He’s _not_ a medic.” The kimono-top snarled at her companion, sweeping her singed bangs away from her face and behind an ear.  
“Oh yeah? I call it how I see it and I _saw_ him mending their injuries earlier." A pause, then, ”Erm, literally."  
“Uh…”  
“Thought you wouldn’t have…anything to…say to…” He stopped talking, eyes falling on the place where you had once stood. Hidan was there too. Right next to you, standing in the middle of a weird circle that had a triangle in the center. His skin was blackened with white markings splotched with angry red blistering scorch marks. Hidan was cringing in agony where he stood; and so was Blondie. She was off to the side since she had thrown herself away from the blast in another direction and her clothes weren’t burnt like how Hidan’s cloak was smoking (apparently it was fire resistant). However her skin was in the same condition as Hidan's. And they were looking at him _through_ you. 

The younger girl clapped her hands over her mouth in horror, eyes widening. Her comrade stood in a state of similar shock, and the stands were possessed by an eerie hush for a minute before exploding with racous cheers and applause. A man turning on his own team is delicious enough. That attack was so viciously powerful that no one should be able to live through it without appropriate protection. And yet, that very same team that Kakuzu 'turned' against was still here, if in a stranger form, but _there_ nevertheless.  
It wasn't something that you see everyday.

“Oh my god…” He mouthed, rising to his feet and backing away a few steps. “They’re not human…”

“A..aaah...a..a...g-ghost…AAAHHHH!!!!!!!” Evidently, she was afraid of spirits.  
“Stay calm!"  
“Monsters! Like, nothing should survive that! NOTHING!” She scuttled two feet backwards on her rear end where she'd fallen when running earlier, frightened out of her wits.

You floated there and listened, completely wrapped in trailing spectral bandages, except for your eyes, which peered out from between the wrappings keenly, aglow in purple like usual. The smell of burnt barbequed flesh filled the stadium like the reek of Hell itself, as though the underworld opened up in the instance of the conflagration and exhaled from its depths, breathing out an otherworldly stench that no human in his or her right mind wanted to experience. It was sickening; and made the man in the tan jounin uniform feel like he was beginning to rot from the core by smelling it. The odor of Blondie’s sizzled hair was mixed in with the rancid stench that was the smoke from her superheated skin and boiled blood, ruptured muscle…she was _trashed_ beyond their medic’s assistance; though, the medic was walking towards her, vividly afraid and unsure if her techniques would be sufficient to heal her comrade. She couldn’t move until the tremors of pain abated barely enough to dare shifting her fire-roasted body.

You flew towards the medic girl, and this action elicited a squeak. She pulled out a kunai and tried to swipe at you in her own defense. But you dodged easily around her and went directly for the currently unscathed jounin; catching him in the chest and digging a translucent blood-blackened hand into him, draining his chakra so quickly. Blood filled in and eased out of his closed mouth and down his chin, rolling in a widening, thick wave down his neck, clinging to his skin and dribbling continuously from his knobbly chin in the process. A hole burned gradually through the cloth of his shirt under his tan flak vest, and then his skin started to burn open and form a hole where your arm reached through him. He was paralyzed. His jaws were locked shut, he couldn’t move under his own power no matter how hard he would try. This man was having a hole sizzled into him because he was being touched by pure energy. Chakra malevolent in nature to begin with, since a person’s chakra is influenced by their ‘heart’, how good or bad they are…it was brutal. You were feeling mighty nice; warm, light chakra was washing into you in gentle waves, adding to your stores but not healing you outright. 

“Like a breath of fresh air.” You mused aloud, making Hidan cackle insanely, only for his cruel mirth to die out a second later, but you carried on. “Mmmmmm. That’s _good_.”

“Judgment has been handed down." Hidan began darkly, taking out a spike from his cloak and extending it. Blondie was clambering sluggishly to her feet, stumbling, trying to keep her balance but was in a tremendous amount of pain with every movement from her singed flesh under her clothes. Her skin was fused to some of the fabric and gradually peeling away while she stood and tried to walk towards Hidan, unwittingly spurring him into taking that spike and stabbing it into his stomach above his bellybutton. He wormed the point upwards. She doubled over and clutched her stomach, eyes bulging out of their sockets. Blondie had an extra hole to bleed through now. The _sand_ was wetter than she was on the inside by now.

The medic been on her way to help Blondie, and was mere steps away, but Hidan's profane ritual repulsed and repelled her. With each stab into a region of his body, Blondie reacted in accordance. It didn't take much convincing. She wasn't going to be able to help the other, except to prolong her misery. So the medic girl turned and scrambled away to the opposite side of the field, abandoning hope of saving her comrades; she didn’t bother trying after _that_ wretched sight. Tears leaked down the apples of her cheeks, and she hastily swiped them away, running away from the people she should've tried harder to save. It can never be said that a healer's job is the easy one. If she tried to spare Blondie, then the other man would be hung out to dry, and vice versa. One way or another, somebody was going to die a gruesome death. 

“Let her go.” Kakuzu instructed patiently. You were ready to throw the tan-clad jounin man at her but let him hit the sand instead, with a wrist-width tunnel straight through to his back, blood seeping out into the once-parched sand beneath him. His spine, which you'd been using as a handle to hold his body up, had eroded down to a brittle column that splintered apart upon impact.

“Why?” You asked in a disembodied voice.  
“We will be disqualified if we kill her now. Medics are safe until the third round. That is one of the few rules.”  
“Oh, okay. No one told me that.” And you also twitched a little bit. Herein was an amusing flaw to the earlier plan; that Risa group had no idea that you're the medic, meaning they could be disqualified if they unlocked the enigma of your death.

“Annnd that concludes the first round, folks! Round two begins in ten minutes…Team Leaders, now’s the time to make any changes to your lineup!”

You watched the medic girl run her bawling self back into the antechamber opposite that of Akatsuki’s and almost grinned. What a pathetic little grunt! She’s a medic, but you’d think she hasn’t seen a drop of blood in her _life_! Kakuzu turned to look at Pein who motioned for the three of you to come back. 

Once all three did, he looked up at you first, then at the other two. Hidan was no longer patterned with his curse and Kakuzu was wholly unmarked by the fight. When he fought for a limited time with the medic he went easy on her and she never got anywhere close to him. She was _terrible_ in close quarters. You settled on the ground, moved towards Hidan, and a glow consumed your translucent hands. You hovered your palms over the worst burns, easily alleviating his scorch wounds so he'd have a blank slate for the next round. Perhaps a little surprisingly, he remained perfectly still and didn't complain.

“Do not bother holding back for the next two rounds.” Pein told the group while you worked. “There’s around eighty-four bets so far that we won’t kill them within the first five minutes because of how long the first round took.”

“Do them in three.” Konan added after Pein lapsed into silence. “Preferably less.”

“Eh?” Hidan twitched, and you patiently avoided making direct contact with his skin. “That’s not enough for me to-“

“Then _don’t_. Chop someone’s head off and be done with it.” Kisame interrupted. “This isn’t a freaking religion exhibition.” 

You finished fixing the burns and sighed in irritation, deliberately becoming less and less visible, liking the fact that you could be here and _not_ be here at once. The potential applications were endless. “Time’s nearly up guys, and if you don’t mind…actually, even if you _do_ mind, I want to have done with this.” You said in that disembodied-as-ever voice from the middle of nowhere. Tobi, Zetsu and Hidan were closest to where you were hovering mid-air and your voice reverberated right through them, making chills rush over their spines like a colony of cold steel ants with needle-sharp legs that stabbed into their skin with each skittering step.

Hidan stormed out of the antechamber, hissing equal parts profanity and prayer under his breath, and Kakuzu ambled after him while secretly wondering how much those bets were worth; probably quite a bit if Pein found them to be worth mentioning above all else. Money was tighter than the group understood, so this was a prime opportunity to earn as much as possible. Playing this stupid game was an easy price to pay for the end results.

Across the field, Medic girl and two fresh team mates from Clan Risa came walking onto the field. Medic’s knees were nearly knocking. She saw that Akatsuki's was the same exact group from before, and the cultist psychopath was all healed up, too, while you remained in the same condition. She tried to take heart though that things would be different this time. Her team mates were twins who both wore their attitudes openly, all overly self-confident and strutting along. The muted daylight from behind those ominous black clouds made lettering on their sequined shirts glint from across the field. They dressed like punk queens, if that's what one wanted to call it. You noticed that their shirts each said something to the effect of, ‘B.I.T.C.H: Beautiful Intelligent Talented Charming & Honest’ or, ‘If You Think I’m Sarcastic, Watch Me Pretend To Care’ (and you truly didn’t give a shit about that stuff, but they might as well paint a bulls-eye on their foreheads and give you a bazooka).

Glittery shirts and multicolored hair aside, if their matched strut across the field was any indication, this would be an insane fight. If their bloated confidence was a meter for their battle prowess, that is...but they looked more like balloons: all big and puffed up, but essentially full of hot air. But they weren't going out of their way to be subtle like some ninja. They both wore pants that were laden with shoddily sewn on neon and denim patches and a couple pins and buttons on the hips, a four-inch-wide rainbow spike-studded belt around the lower section of their printed t-shirts, deliberately frayed specialty metallic bandages wrapped around one thigh with a kunai holster each, and black knee boots laden with buckles and straps that looked twice too heavy on their stick thin legs. One girl had dual bladed fans. The other walked with a teak-colored staff resting over her shoulders, elbows hooked over it so her forearms hung, cranberry leather wrapped in a spiral strip around the middle of the staff for a grip. In that order you decided to refer to them as Thing One and Thing Two; mostly on account of being at a loss of what to call them.

And both of them motioned to the crowd all around, tugging yells and chants of approval from the masses and making violent motions in your directions. These girls were making violent, nonverbal claims that they can compete with hardened fighters once or twice their seniors, arrived here to rumble with the big names in Anarchy. They _radiated_ overconfidence. You found yourself trying not to cringe once they opened their burgundy lipstick painted mouths and started yelling across. Gloating, really. Attempting their hand at mind games. 

Failing miserably. 

You tuned in for part of their blather in time to hear; “…HEY! What, stop staring! Come on!!! Make a move already!” 

 

“YAH SCAAAARED??!!"

“YEAH! They’re frozen!” And more rude gestures and weird catcalls were sent in your general direction.

You rotated your body a half-turn in midair to level an incredulous gaze at Kakuzu and Hidan. Kakuzu crossed his arms. The announcer didn’t give the go-ahead yet. This meant, apparently, that Thing One and Thing Two could continue yapping to their heart's content.

Hidan leaned on his scythe, eyeing these girls as though he were looking into his doom of eternal boredom. You floated between him and Kakuzu and sighed. But you couldn’t be invisible right now. Even though it was _technically_ not in the rules that ghosts can’t turn invisible during the tourney (for some unfathomable reason arena staff didn’t feel the need to make such rules), but being invisible wouldn’t put a cork in their mouths. You had to suffer like the other two.

“I feel sorry for myself.” Kakuzu admitted at last.  
“Shit, me too.” Hidan agreed, then yawned loudly without stifling his mouth with a hand.  
“Make that three.” You sulked gloomily, clamping your translucent bandaged arms over your head in a fruitless attempt to spare yourself. Without noticing you triggered it to happen, you became transparent and this stoked Things One and Two into a renewed barrage of what they viewed as ‘insults’ (which was a matter of opinion). The worst ones of these was;

“HA-HA! SCAREDY GHOST!”  
“SCAREDY GHOST!!!”

“I see why they’re here.” You commented, becoming more and more irked with every breath those girls took.  
“Why then?” Kakuzu asked, bordering ‘desperate’ for a distraction from the bouncing baby girls.  
“Because people back where they live are probably hoping they’ll die.”  
“Yeah?” Hidan perked up from leaning heavily on his scythe. “They’re gonna die alright. Right after the fucking emcee rings the fucking bell!” He was getting madder and madder as those little rodents kept at it.

“Hell yes." You agreed, twitched and prepared to shriek banshee-style at the emcee, when he finally announced the start of round two and the bell rang, reverberating for a good mile around the arena to alert folks back to their seats during the very brief break. The bathrooms here were tiny, few and far between, a fact that quickly drove spectators out of the stands when they had to answer the call of nature. 

“Heeey GHOSTYYYYY!”

Twitch.

“C’mere girrrl! Ghooosty!”

Twitch twitch.

“We used to have a dog named Ghost!”

Twitch-twitch- _twitch_.

“Come on, don’t be shy, girl! We has somethin' for ya! Teehehee!” Medic had joined in now with a high pitched laugh. Maybe her friends were being annoying for her benefit, heckling the opposition for a morale booster. Medic's mood had improved since she vanished inside to consult with her team, and making light of what should be a severe situation was helping her cope with what was _probably_ about to happen, but this time, she hoped to be more assistance.

Your eyes started to glow more intensely and the area around your ghostly hands broiled with black fire, similar to Itachi’s, only it was faint and barely there. Its blackness rippled and undulated in and out of sight around your fingers, from solid black to dark fire edged in indigo.

Back in the antechamber the rest of Akatsuki had _completely_ clustered around the doors and were now all staring out almost unblinkingly, awaiting the carnage. Kakuzu’s subordinate, whom had stayed so he could watch the fights, blanched. “They better get those little girls outta there.”

“No kidding.” Kisame agreed, rooted to the spot. 

“It’ll be interesting if nothing else.” Itachi said.

“Look at how agitated they're getting. This is about to get nasty.” Konan commented, Pein smirking knowingly beside her, leaning casually against the door and fidgeting idly with his snakebite lip piercings. Of the three on the field, you were the most openly annoyed. And he enjoyed your temper very much. It was exceedingly useful in training but certainly had its shortcomings. It was also why he taught you how to conceal your emotions, because it made you too predictable. But with your current state, you didn't need to worry so much about a poker face.  
“We should put some raincoats on and go outside!!” Tobi rejoiced abruptly, bouncing a little in place. 

“Eh?” Deidara was confused. It’s an odd statement of course.

“Because we’re almost guaranteed to get wet.” Sasori supplied. “I think.”

“Yep yep!” Tobi, again with the happily morbid disposition, and wiggled his arms like noodles.

“Does Tobi _like_ getting wet, un?” 

“YEP!”

“..."

Tobi was so very correct about it too. You were now _so_ fed up with the constant taunts that you became hell bent on being angry with them, shoving aside your years of training that told you to simmer down and only shell out what’s coming to them. Being a ghost, it wasn’t as though you needed to hide anything since you’re covered in bandages. They were so…FUCKING…annoying!

 _’Jashin give me strength. I’m going to need it to RIP THEM APART!!!!’_ You thought furiously, now blasting across the gap of sandy field between yourself and them. 

“WATCH OUT!” Medic screamed. “Don’t let her touch you!”

Too late. You had a hold of one of them and dragged her up in the air, your burning, translucent hand hissing at the material of her gloved wrist. It was Thing One. Her twin fans never left their place where they were tucked into her big belt. She stared down at the ground, eyes widening, wondering what you were going to do. 

The bandages trailing out from behind you formed a tail that you whipped around her waist so your hands could be free. She yelped, bug-eyed, when she slipped a few inches through the air only to be caught by additional spectral tendrils.

Down below. Kakuzu and Hidan made a incidental game out of circling around Thing Two and Medic, lashing out at them whenever an opportunity presented itself. It was often when this happened because Medic was clumsy and Thing Two came out here armed light. She didn’t have much else aside from her staff and her supply of kunai, which was finite. She ran out of those already and was now, so sad for her, considering how she could _possibly_ fight Akatsuki’s juggernaut, Hidan. He was way too strong in close combat. How the hell do you hurt a sadomasochist? He’s only going to like it, and being literally immortal…and, oh yes, she didn’t have a blade apart from some kunai…what was she going to do? Those wouldn't help very much right now!

Hidan, for now, wasn’t so irritated as he had been when the girls chattered incessantly. Now he was laughing, to him this was funny. One minute had elapsed and he’d forgotten about the three-minute deal. The girls were barely more than sitting ducks, and the Medic was no exception. She came out here armed _far_ too light, under the ridiculous assumption that she wouldn't need to do much fighting since medic-ninja had immunity until the last round. But thanks to a little bit earlier, she used some of her weaponry up. Her cockiness was due in no small part to how their team steamrolled other opposition prior to this. Its not as though they _lacked_ skill, per se. But compared to what they were pitted against, their accumulated experience and abilities amounted to little. Because in the end, there's _always_ a higher power than your own, and Clan Risa had the misfortune of being pitted against a group whose collective ability, experience and notoriety enormously outstripped their own.

Hidan continued to take stabs and swipes at the enemy, proving that he still forgot of the three-minute rule, but he sure remembered when blood and smoking body parts started raining from the sky. You coasted down to the ground, Thing One’s bloody stump of a body in tow, still trapped in your bandage-tentacles, then let what remained of her mostly dissembled trunk hit the sand from five feet above. You turned towards her sister (who was stunned silent at the display), tossed an object and said, “Think fast!” 

Unthinkingly holding her quarterstaff with one hand and catching the ‘something’ with her free hand, she saw what it was and dropped it with a frightened squeal.

Her sister’s bloody head.

Hidan burst into harsh laughter and Kakuzu’s eyes smiled a tiny bit, since you can’t see his mouth. “Stop playing and _finish it!_ ” You hissed at them, flying past Hidan and beating him over the head with an arm from the corpse, but he avoided that. Its flesh heated and smoked in your grip. The crowd was roaring with approval as usual, but it was one of those things that your ears become accustomed to, so that it sounds like a dull roar, like turning down the television on an old movie. 

“Hey now, just because you’re all bitter doesn’t mean _we_ can’t have fun!” Hidan protested. He didn’t budge. Kakuzu would though. He raised his arms and his wrists dislocated from his forearms and his hands rocketed foreword, still attached by thick gatherings of black cord. Thing Two tried to block the hands but Kakuzu merely grabbed hold of her staff and tossed it by the wayside, right through you actually. The wood began to wither and burn, the leather shrunk and ‘popped’ and the whole thing was reduced to nothing. 

“Hey!”  
“Deal with it.” Kakuzu sneered, grasping the girl by the throat. Medic was once again frozen in fear. The lone sister tried to pull the strangling hands and strings away, choking, tears rolling down her face.  
“Aaaaaaaakkkk..hhh-help meee…Ziiii-nnnaaaa!”

And we have a name! Zina’s big eyes misted over and she burst into tears. Across the way her Leader screamed promises of bloody murder if she didn’t get her ass in gear.  
A lot can happen fast, right? Maybe she could do it. She just had to believe in herself. Think of all those high-caliber medics who can really make a difference, who really go the extra distance and not only act as medics, but as shinobi who can pack a punch! _’Why can’t I be like the Hokage, Tsunade? Or her students? Or Gyaku Saiya?! Or HER students?! WHY!!’_

Ohhh how you would’ve _laughed_ into tears if you could read a person’s mind.

She hurled herself at Kakuzu but Hidan was between them in a moment. In the back of his mind, he knew that medics can’t be killed until the last round. But he remembered this at the last possible second and instead of letting her plow into the triple blades, he turned the scythe so the side was to her and rammed it into her midsection. With a cry of pain she was thrown backwards and she tumbled in the sand, becoming covered with it in the spots where syrupy red blood had dribbled onto her clothes and skin from above when you tore her friend to pieces. She stopped rolling as she had landed against the burn-covered blood and sand-caked mess that was Blondie in life.

“No…no, p-please...not again…” she sobbed, smashing a balled fist against the sand in frustration. Meanwhile Kakuzu finished strangling the other bitch to death and let her go. Zina didn’t bother getting up and going into the antechamber at first. A young man with jade green eyes came out and herded her gently inside. She continued to whimper and discreetly smudge tears from her face, allowing herself to be moved along. If it wasn't evident before, she knew it now: her overconfidence was sorely misplaced, and Clan Risa was _hilariously_ outmatched.

Pein called Kakuzu, Hidan and yourself back in and the emcee yelled out the end of round two…final round would begin soon after a short break.

“That was a waste of time.” Sasori deadpanned.  
“No it was not.” Kakuzu's deep voice ground out in retort. Money was made off it, in three minutes. Enough said.

“It's pathetic is what it was.” You sighed. “Come on, they pranced out and started calling names. I half expected them to walk over here and start catcalling at the rest of you.”

“I haven’t seen blood rain from the sky in a long time, un.” Deidara said with a lopsided grin. He stopped before further speaking his mind, grin now diminished. Dei almost forgot that you both weren't on the best of terms right now. “Was fun.” You admitted, but did not turn to acknowledge him openly. “I got a good view of the audience. They were creeped out. I don’t know if it was because of me or the falling body parts.” Then, as an afterthought, “They should get themselves a new medic. She doesn't perform well under pressure. You weren’t kidding Deidara, they _do_ suck.”

“Clan Risa used to be better than this, Nn.” Deidara was relieved that you chose to be civil, but was also crossed between being amused and pissed off at the sad situation out there. He came from the same place as Clan Risa did. But on the other hand he _did_ sever ties with that country so he was both annoyed he came from such a place and amused that they made a mockery of themselves in public.

“Should they switch out now Pein?” Konan asked, wanting to change the topic to more pressing matters. Pein shook his head. “There's no point.” His piercing gray gaze swiveled back towards the sandy field, studying the motionless corpses and gradually blackening clumps of stained sand like kitty litter. Blood was everywhere out there; spread in wide arcs, dribbled in pools that were so heavy atop sand which could no longer absorb it. That liquid red rippled smoothly beneath the wind, only to be covered by a fresh layer of loose parched sand when the breeze brushed across the field. It stained a wall up to the stands in a singular streak, how that happened he didn’t notice. Mainly he was using this opportunity to assess how you handled the spirit manifestation. You were alright with it. But he was far from satisfied; this shape opened up a whole spectrum of possibilities that had been unchecked by any other shinobi in history before. This is what he worked so hard to create off the side of his biggest plans. Now it was time to nurture this undeniably evil thing that he helped to create. 

And then, in your mind, you still had a hundred or so questions swarming around that you wanted answers for. You didn’t remember if Pein gave a straight answer towards the question of, ‘why’? For that matter, had you asked it? The days here were blurring into the nights in what felt like a single long-winded collision. He wouldn’t answer any questions during training. That always resulted in a painful evening. The rest of the time he was working, sending you on missions or making himself scarce for one reason or another. Though you had to keep telling yourself that some day he would alleviate the sting of curiosity, it was irksome that it was taking so long to get answers. Pein, like Itachi, had a method of how he went about things. He might take awhile to get around to a goal but he’d get there, sure enough. Pein ran on his own timeline, _everybody else_ had to adjust to fit that schedule, and this is partially why there was harm promised to those who failed to fill their quota when he placed a mission down on each person or group in Akatsuki. 

By now you headed back out for the third and last round. The emcee was babbling on and on about how anything goes for this one and that the medics for each team are no longer safe. Joy. Now you could butcher that medic girl Zina. The one that wished she was as good as you were at being a medic (or Tsunade). Not that you knew that. And since she didn’t get a very good look at you before Kakuzu blasted your body into the next…dimension?...she probably didn’t know that she was _fighting_ one of the medics she looked up to. At least for this round she had replenished her supply of kunai and borrowed a short-blade to help protect herself with.

The bell clanged jarringly and this time there was no nonsense. Clan Risa barely sent the next two people out with Zina; two young men whom carried themselves more like proud warriors would, one with short white hair, the other with shoulder-length mint green hair tied back in a ponytail. Since introductions minutes before their impending doom is idiotic, you decided on thinking of them as Sugar and Mint. They looked sweet, with kind eyes that carried sparks of resolve. Now _these_ were the sort of people you especially enjoyed killing; they were attractive, were already dodging Hidan and Kakuzu like a pair of professionals, and simultaneously guarding Zina. They continuously avoided you and sent waves of elements at you…bright forks of lightning, raging gales of wind (Sugar was apparently proficient in both wind and lightning elements), rising jets of water, torrents of sand kicked up by a weird jutsu. Minty controlled his Water and Earth elements well. But these did nothing to you; they’d find it out immediately. After both made the same mistake of hitting you with an elemental jutsu you absorbed the energy expended for those techniques. You would start using yourself as a shield to continuously protect Hidan and Kakuzu from the constant jutsus they threw at them. Mint and Sugar chose to watch you instead of try to fight you for now. They were smart unlike the ones from Risa before them. They also contained a sizeable chakra supply between them and could keep putting out heavy attacks that held Hidan and Kakuzu temporarily at bay whilst they hatched a plan, the movement of their lips unreadible under the nose-high skin-tight masks they both wisely wore.

But _you_ made the mistake of allowing that chakra to connect with your ghostly shape. Since you and Pein were still experimenting and pushing to find the limitations of the Specter, there was no way you could possibly know what would happen next; and that is…for you to suddenly solidify and become normal and human.

Pein stared from the doors of the antechamber into the field, his Rinnegan locked upon the scene. What the hell _happened?!_ This is why he was watching you so closely today, but he really hoped that no issues would arise. Oh well. It was better that this happened now than later in a fight against a jinchuuriki. Demons are like animals. They sense an opening and they attack, mercilessly, seeking an opening to rip your goddamned throat out whereas humans pause to think of the outcomes. Some don’t. Most will and do.

Sugar, Mint and Zina stopped attacking and defending for a fraction of a second, as did Hidan and Kakuzu…all to gawk at you. You weren’t naked. But the out-of-nowhere appearance of a third Akatsuki from the previous shape of a ghost is startling at the least. 

“Its…oh kami, I know you!” Zina gasped, jabbing a finger in your direction almost dramatically. “You’re Gyaku Saiya!”

You kept a neutral facade, acting as though this new development was expected and nothing to be concerned with. “That’s the rumor. What of it?”

“I can’t believe it’s you! How didn't I realize it before?!”

Minty rubbed the back of his head. He was embarrassed for himself that he was stuck with that almost useless lump of a girl. Sugar pressed on and ignored the conversation. Once, you might've admired his focus. But those days are long past.

There wasn’t any time to stand there _because_ of that focus right now. Sugar and Mint were kicking into high gear and got Hidan good; by taking up the nunchucks on the ground from earlier and using them to break his neck. There was the unmistakable ‘crack’ of fracturing bone but Hidan was only stunned for a minute before waking up and re-locating his head. Mint stared wide-eyed. “What the?! How is that possible?!” He exclaimed. Hidan sneered in response and swung around to lop Mint's head off with one powerful stroke of that scythe. By now, through other attempts as well, Hidan would have been dead four times over in this fight alone. You glanced around for who must be your opponent after witnessing that. It was Sugar who didn’t have an opponent really, right? Kakuzu had been alternating between attacking both men and taking shots at Medic Zina, but most of those tries were successfully blocked.

You saw that Sugar was going through the motions to activate the same wind jutsu he used a thrice in a row so far and you decided to cut him down before he finished it, using your Speed sigil to close the gap between the two of you. Your katana was buried in his gut, and your wakizashi sliced through the air like lightning to his folded hands, chopping off his fingers. They tumbled to the sand, trailing thin streams of blood, and Sugar screamed in pain and pulled back but did not succeed in coming off the blade you had buried up to the guard in his stomach. He couldn’t bring himself to try and use his mutilated hands to pry the black metal katana out of his belly. He faltered and froze, immobilized with pain for the moment. Rather than putting your wakizashi away so you’d have use of one hand you jammed it into his chest left of the heart and gripped the handle tightly, holding on while twisting the katana in place over and over again until the white haired man emitted an earsplitting, tortured scream. 

Minty was swift to try and escort Zina towards Sugar for a rescue but a piercing shriek rent the air and all he had to do was look up to see where Zina was. She was dangling in the air a foot above their heads and far to the left, being slowly twisted into sections by Kakuzu’s black string tentacles. The strings held her up and some more touched against her chest, as if pinpointing the desired location--and then dug in and started the process of unearthing that precious organ, thrumming heavily in fear and pain, ready to flee up her throat and away from the murderer who literally stole hearts as he began what promised to be a hideous dissection. If anybody had their doubts towards Kakuzu's ruthlessness, let them be silenced now. He _really_ got into it, using his tentacles to dissemble her torso…methodically peeling cartilage and layers of fat and muscle away, hitting bone, a single tendril wrapping around each rib and pulling at once, tugging and twisting them up a fraction and outwards so that the tips of bone were clear out of the way. He continued to mine further through her chest cavity, finally catching sight of what he sought after a short time. The beating heart, which he cautiously removed with three tentacles, cradling it with them, being extremely careful that he didn’t snip away any veins or nerves. It couldn't be pulled very far out of her chest cavity at all. It's not as though evolution designed the human body with extension cords.

“If I don’t want to do an autopsy in the future, I know who to call.” You commented blandly, twisting the katana again. You’d do it whenever the pain started to numb out, but you would soon grow bored of this. Mostly, you were watching the others with all due interest while making certain this man was in too much pain to help himself. He was bleeding out from the flesh wounds, and was standing immobile in a widening pool of his own blood. If he died of anything, it'd be of exsanguination since the places where your weapons were buried could be recovered from in ordinary circumstances. 

Hidan meanwhile had nicked a sample of Minty’s blood and was making him bleed like a steer hanging upside-down in a slaughterhouse, one that isn’t stunned stupid like it should be but quite aware, still crying out in abject agony. They cheered when Hidan stuck himself with a spike through a calf muscle, inflicting a mirror image of the wound on Mint. He was obviously sacrificing the green-haired man to Jashin. It made you all the more conscious of the warm silver necklace around your neck.

After Hidan grew bored of torturing Minty he killed the guy, Kakuzu made use of Zina’s heart, and you turned your head back towards Sugar to see he was dead but standing because you were holding him up with the wakizashi and katana. You unsheathed them from his flesh and held them up, admiring the liquid crimson coating those elegant black blades. This man's end hadn't been _nearly_ as gruesome as what happened to his comrades; if anything, he died politely by comparison. The crowd might've seen it as a let-down, but you hardly cared right now. You made blood and body parts rain from above earlier, and Kakuzu had been deliberate and thorough in his final kill while Hidan drew out his ritual sacrifice as far as he could. If the onlookers felt they didn't have a satisfying dose of brutality from this match up alone, then they'd _never_ be satiated. 

The emcee gave an unseen cringe and announced Akatsuki as the winner then permitted you three to exit the field. Pein told everyone that they were free to go and to be early to the games tomorrow. He held you back as the others took their leave. 

“We have to talk.” He said.  
“Yeah.” You agreed, making eye contact with him. “We do.”


	24. Hell's Belles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little well-warranted downtime is had, and even more realizations are reached. But when its time for the next round in the arena, jaws are bound to drop at the astonishing display of brutality and power that is not soon to be forgotten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rhig: I'd like to open by saying thank you, as ever, for the kudos, bookmarks, comments and reads. It is always greatly appreciated! <3 Now, secondly, I'd like to put up a disclaimer that at the time of writing this, I had no idea that 'Hell's Belles' is a band, and thusly, it is not my intention to potentially plagiarize in any manner...it's a chapter, it's aptly named, let's leave it at that. Additionally, I'd like to point out that I am in no way a woman-hater, on account of being female myself. Things I write do not necessarily reflect my personal views. It's fiction, and maybe I've got a twisted mind, but to each our own, am I right? A last sidenote: on my computer here, this chapter is 32 pages long, so as usual I apologize for taking so long to post it. ^^'
> 
> EDIT: Alot of the tags are messed up it seems like, eventually I'll get around to fixing them, but this issue has taken a bite out of some of the dialogue so if it feels like you're missing something, you might very well be.

Hell’s Belles

 

Quite a few arena battles raged through the hours you spent with Pein. Both of you had snuck up to what passed as the arena roof. The top of said structure was open in the center, but had huge wide overhangs extending outward over the seating area for the crowd. Ancient wind-shredded fabric snapped in the breeze, discolored by countless days of sun. Despite that these hardly offered any shelter, the crowd below would likely not notice your presence. And no one would be able to listen into your conversation up here without making their presence known. Evidently, Pein wanted to have an undisturbed talk with you about this whole ghost topic. Now was as good a time as any: with a bird’s eye view of the action, plenty of commotion below to stop people from caring that two Akatsuki had settled down on the ‘roof’ (or what there is of one), and nowhere for spies to hide. Truth be told you had no idea how much time elapsed between when you followed Pein up here and when he finally elected to speak. The crowd's raucous howls of joy and disapproval came in rolling waves, rising and falling with every spurt of blood. But the volume up this high was a decent amount lower than it had been on the field. Here you could hold a conversation easily enough and not have to repeat yourselves over the churning sea of bodies down there. You paced back and forth restlessly at first; then decided sit down a foot to the left of Pein in a gap where the fabric overhangs had long ago torn completely off their tether-rings. Your sensei was sitting with his legs hanging over the edge, hunched over with his elbows on his knees so he could see the field and lean all at once. Beside him, you remained unusually still, eyes upon a pair of gladiators in the ring. Neither of you spoke for a very long time. Several rounds came and went and blood spilled unabated down below. Admittedly, it was a good bit less gory than _your_ fight alongside Hidan and Kakuzu. 

“They suck.” You stated. It was time to break the ice before it thickened too much. As time progresses it only gets harder to slice through the silence. And your patience was worn thin from earlier as it was.  
“For the most parts.” Pein agreed.  
“So I take it you’re going to have to run another assessment when we get back, eh?” You remarked dryly. Upon speaking the word 'assessment', it was easy to recall the one and only trial you had been through. 'Assessment' was more or less a term of mockery. The understanding now had been reached that the last time had been a joke; mostly a chance to prove to Pein that he wasn't keeping weaklings in the organization. It was an opportunity for the previously deceased to show that death hadn't dulled their mettle. _You'd_ been tossed in there for good measure, and again, knew that this was so Pein could personally get a sense of how sharpened your skills were since you and he parted ways. He threw the term 'assessment' around now as a thinly veiled threat which resonated loud and clear: _if you become useless to me, you're dead._  
Admittedly, it conveyed the point.

“At this rate yes.” Said he, hinting at amusement. “However this is the beginning. There will be ample opportunities for the fights to become serious.”  
“It probably won’t happen.” You sighed a little, brushing some hair back from your face with splayed fingers, wincing when a single hair got pinched between the material of a half-finger glove and your skin. It stung for a split second and was yanked out, one long black hair. You held your hand up and watched it lift and waver on the breeze before pulling it out of your glove. Its seams were loosening and pulling apart, and were worn beyond belief. It was a wonder how they weathered the storm of their constant abuse this long.

“Take those off.” Pein's voice almost startled you, having become absorbed in a study of your ruined gloves. Though you quickly did as he bade. Pein slid back from the very edge and folded his legs, turning towards you, and took your hands in his, turning them over so he could see the backs. He studied them, as if looking for something particular, carefully turning your hands over in his so the palms faced upwards. Watching this, it struck you as funny that a guy was appraising your hands. This image was paired solidly with the memory of an old classmate fretting over her botched manicure, and bit down a childish giggle at the idea. Although speaking of manicures, you really were overdue to fix your own. It was so damaged that only a few blots and stripes of color remained.

Pein wasn’t concerned about the disrepair your fingernail polish had fallen into though. He was currently focused on the sigils between knuckle and joint on each finger. He ran his thumbs over the ones you could actually see; which were Fire, Shield, Strength and Wind. Those were darkest, and Speed was also visible, but was hardly there. They looked like brownish tattoos in varying shades. Ghost Sigil wasn’t visible whatsoever, as it was a fairly recent development and you hadn’t used it quite as many times as the others. By contrast the others were beginning to fade into sight with use.

“Strange.” He remarked as he continued to examine your fingers.  
“What is?”

Pein didn’t answer and persisted in perusing your hands, cocking his head at an angle a very little bit. As he did so; the sun finally succeeded in burning through the gruesome black clouds which overshadowed the day since before dawn.  
_”What?”_ ” You repeated. Pein continued to ‘read’ the backs of your hands (as that is what it appeared he was doing) for a minute further. “I did not expect skin discoloration to occur.”

You were confused. “How so?”

Pein made eye contact briefly then returned to what he was doing, chuckling a bit. “Apparently you have yet to remember how I gave you these.”

“Do I -want- to? Is it one of those things best left forgotten, sensei?”

“Depends.” Said he. 

“On what?”

“Personally, _I_ would want to know. If I were you, and I knew how to create these myself,” He placed a thumb over the ‘Shield’ sigil for emphasis. “Then I would use that knowledge to my advantage.”

“Like how?” But, he did not respond, turning his gaze away to brush across the surroundings. As moments ticked by, you were positive that he wasn't about to answer. A long, bare silence stretched out as a break took place down below, and spectators jostled out of the stands to seek sustenance or restrooms while they had minutes to spare. The roar of activity had dulled so profoundly that it rang hollow in your ears, as if the world for miles around emptied out around you. "It took me a full year to finally complete these.” He said at last, and this hardly spoke to your question. Instead, it appeared as though he was rethinking something which occurred to him moments prior. "They were simple to develop in theory, but in practice is another matter."

“Oh?” You perked up. Maybe you could extract some information from him yet! Recently, you discovered that Pein had more patience for your profuse queries as a child than he did now. The rule of thumb in the current training sessions became; 'work first, questions later'. A frustrating condition to work under, to be sure: mostly on account of being too tired later to ask a damned thing, no matter how important.

“The research is already done, the methodology is completed and it is only a matter of _applying_ that knowledge." And then- _right_ as you thought he decided against saying a word, he continued on. But it wasn't what you hoped. "Think about it. I can perform any jutsu unless it is strictly attached to a kekkei-genkai, and while in my case the ability to use any technique has to do with my own doujutsu, in you I have created a similar condition. In theory with time and practice you can do the same. This is what I was aiming for. Now it’s about time you made use of that potential.”

“Of course, sensei.” You said, almost droning it out but catching yourself before you did so. This was a small matter of containing your disappointment. “So will you show me how?” It was now obvious that this was little more than empty promises. He wasn't going to follow up on it, but there was a dim hope he would. At the same time, you wished this conversation could be forgotten because no matter _how much_ you wished you could; it was impossible to shake the sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach that something about all of this was highly wrong.

“Yes.” He agreed without hesitation, and for the moment, you allowed the certainty in his voice to smother the tiny weeds of doubt taking root. The conversation fell away, and in a sense, it was comforting to have nothing more to say. You noticed Pein's head turning this way and that lazily. His eyes drew across to the horizon beyond the stadium and surveyed the vast shimmering expanse of the sea, and your gaze followed his own. The sea vista was a myriad of color; various blues as an undertone, highlighted in silvery flashes mirroring the sky and reflecting traces of yellow from the sun’s hot rays. Specks of color bobbed on benign waves in the shipyard, breaking against the boardwalks and shoreline. The dark clouds above had lightened, incinerated to pale clusters of wisps shivering in the fierce, untamed blue up above. A sea breeze blew in from across the water, brushing the land with its cool saline breath. 

The masses populating the stadium grounds had poured back into their rows of seats, somewhere below the emcee shouted the introduction of the next round, and the crowd crowed gleefully for more violence. In response to their vicious demands; clangs of metal and wounded cries resonated into the air, and dissipated against the breadth of the heavens. This would carry on for quite awhile until a definitive end. More noise gusted out from below with the last warrior fallen in a wave of wet scarlet on dead sand. You smirked down at the spray of red and the body coated in the same color, watching the heavy body tumble over one shoulder to become enrobed afresh in a layer of grit. “The sun isn’t the only thing making this day brighter.” You remarked, patiently sweeping strands of black behind an ear. Pein nodded without turning to acknowledge you. 

“Now isn’t the time to teach you how, Saiya.” He said, returning to the conversation. You looked over at him and frowned slightly. So he _wasn't_ going to tell you. He finally made up his mind, even after having initiated the conversation and bringing himself into this situation.

“I will teach you another time. After the tournament, I’d say. For now you must concentrate on working out strategies with the others.”

“So is that it for training with you until then?”

A moment’s pause. “Only until further notice.” He decided he’d cave for now. You had improved a _hell_ of a lot in these few weeks. And it was best for you both anyway; since this is a so-called ‘mental holiday’, that is. Although you improved best this way anyhow; after training so hard for awhile it was best to leave you to your own devices for awhile. You use what you learn where applicable and continue working on it, improving where you could. “I want you to work with Konan next. She has been out on some errands as of late; but told me that she will be in the safe house for the next few days. It’s wisest to catch her now; the others will be easier to find later.”

“Sure, sounds good to me.” You agreed. “I haven’t seen much of her these past few days.”

On that note Pein got up and moved towards the outer rim of the roof. “Be early tomorrow.” He said over his shoulder before kicking off and dropping out of sight. You blinked and sighed, all alone but not worried about it. ‘Alone’ can be lovely; situation depending. Gives time to gather your thoughts properly, and when it comes to that, you were _constantly_ lacking enough time. Sometimes being able to slow down and take your time is preferential. The capacity to think quick on your feet is an excellent ability to have; but is not always necessary.

So you decided to spend your time here for the afternoon. It was something to do and you could hear yourself think better once your ears yet further adjusted to the noise level from down below, which, as previously discussed, wasn’t quite as loud from this vantage point. 

Down below the fights raged on and you got a pretty good understanding of what Akatsuki was up against: a hell of a lot of _nothing_. These other teams weren’t taking the competition seriously. There were only a handful of fatalities and a whole lot of injuries bordering along the looks of ‘grade-z budget horror flick’. And five people seemed as though they would not be able to sit down proper for a week but would survive mostly unscarred. Judging from all this either these people were showing all they had or they were keeping some aces hidden up their sleeves (and trousers probably). But it wasn’t favorable as yet. Unless one enjoyed trouncing weaklings, that is, but it's hardly fair to judge a warrior based on one fight. And not all of these people were ninja, therefore, it was possible that there were people with tactics you hadn't encountered before.

The fights ended and the arena/stadium drained of people. You didn’t stay much longer, but you were there for twenty minutes after the last spectator left and arena staff whisked through the stands and combed the field to clean the place up.

You watched them absentmindedly for a few minutes longer, then arose and left. It wasn’t late enough to be considered ‘evening’ but the day was maturing to that point. So you decided to wander around Anarchy some more but quickly grew bored of it, and switched directions towards the safehouse. Might as well see if Konan wanted to grab something to eat.

You knocked, the door creaked open a minute later and Konan blinked at you from around the edge. “Oh, hi Saiya.” She moved to step back from the door but you spoke quicker than that. “Wanna have an early dinner out? I’ll buy.”

She paused and shrugged. “Sure. Give me five minutes.” She left the door open for you and vanished into the little house. You stepped in, nudging the door open wider with your elbow and also using your elbow to close the door. Konan had been lying around the small living room and watching television when you came knocking; this was your other idea of what to do, but were a little surprised to see that she had the same thought. 

While waiting, you wandered over to the microscopic kitchen for a sip of water. There were some dirty dishes stacked beside the sink and clean plain white ones sitting in a drying rack on the other side. The trash had to be emptied since a few paper napkins and wrappers and fruit peelings were ready to tumble down and out of the trash can next to the counter, and the table had a litter of exquisitely folded origami in a rainbow of colors and designs cluttering the table in various shapes and sizes. Most of these were wondrously complicated while others looked easy to make. There was a thin square box with bright print stamped across the top and sides. It was a variety origami package for the serious paper artist. Fitting considering Konan’s about as serious as one gets when it comes to origami. But also amusing that she'd actually _buy_ origami when she can make her own. Maybe it was on a whim.

Speak of the devil and she appears. Konan came out of the bedroom donning a pair of black knee-high heels, a pair of deep gray fitted pants, and a hand-length black fishnet (which attached at her middle finger) worn under a white belly shirt which in turn was layered beneath a medium blue midriff top. While fixing her white origami flower you took a hint and shed your cloak. Konan wasn’t unarmed right now. Neither were you. Not as long as your limbs were all in working order, anyhow. 

“Ready?” You asked. She nodded and smiled briefly then both of you left the house. “You okay Konan?”

"Ah? Oh, yes. I've been thinking, is all."

“What about?” You asked. She was basically your best friend. Of course you were concerned. 

“Lots of things.” 

“Great way to answer nothing. Who do you think you’re fooling Konan?" You shook your head at her. "I know how you are, and you don’t fold THAT much origami unless you’re trying to figure out something complex.”

There it was again, that sharp gleam within you that showed her you were a lot more observant than you let on. She saw it back when you started in Akatsuki, and she saw it now. 

“Uchiha Sasuke.” That was the _last_ name you expected to hear from her lips. “I’ve heard some rumors.”

“Such as?”

“Something about how his plans are no longer stagnant. Where did you want to go by the way?”

“Barbeque place?”

“Sounds good to me. I forgot to eat today."

You prodded her on. “So go on…”

She was reluctant but would continue. “There are these people in town whom operate under him and they are looking for recruits. Reportedly its dangerous work with a high fatality rate but the payout for survivors is supposed to be high. I went through every single one of my connections and only one found a piece of information.” You both had arrived at the restaurant and were seated. A waiter had already taken the order for drinks. 

“And what is that?”

“The whole reason that Uchiha needs volunteers is because he’s using them for something involving the Tailed Demons. These are all very healthy, physically fit people with a strict selection of older and younger people and also, as we know, Uchiha Sasuke has taken over everything Orochimaru left behind in his death. Kabuto is working with him very closely on a project. That is all I learned.” Konan said. Her brow was creased lightly in concentration and she rubbed the heel of a hand against her forehead. “I don’t get it. There’s nothing on the other side of the equals sign. We have a few factors but not nearly enough to make so much as a guess at the shape of the puzzle.”

“You have a point there.” You admitted. “But have you bothered picking up a paper?”

“Ahhh..…no. I folded it all.” Her expression hinted at guilt, but it was hard to blame her for that. Newspapers can be equal parts fact and fiction, and often there's no way to discern between the two. Often, that's how governments and media like it to be.

In spite of it, you laughed. She was sheepish about admitting this but not wholly so. “It is a likely source isn’t it?” Konan sighed a little. "But I didn't think it'd be wise to put much stock in it."

“I know what you mean, but that’s still the first place I’d look.” You told her. “Let’s try to figure this out together.” You reached behind you and slid your hand into one of your belt-packs, then pulled out a four-inch-long scroll. It was almost plain looking…manila-colored paper wrapped around a normal black painted wooden dowel. But whoever put this scroll together stamped the Gyaku clan insignia on the paper and tied the scroll closed with a thin black string. 

“What’s that for?” 

“It’s a report.” You said. “From my ‘people’. Hyuuga gave me this one. It’s Mai’s last report she wrote as Konoha was trying to get into the Wine Cellar.”

“Mai?”

“The reason why I killed Shizune.” 

“Elaborate please?” Konan requested. She was interested. “Tell me everything. I never got to hear it.”

It was still a little upsetting to think about Mai and what happened to her, but your retribution had been swift and comforting. So you shrugged and decided to humor her. No reason not to, really. “Mai was closest to me out of all those who chose to follow me; I wouldn’t have had a following if it weren’t for her. I didn’t ask for it either; it just happened and I became encouraged to use them as a resource. They learn medical skills from me when they can and in turn earned their keep. They sold my family brand of alcohol and handled the majority of finances and information control, and I made sure they were paid for their efforts." The drinks were brought to the table, with the waiter apologizing for the wait. You fell silent as Konan ordered food you both agreed on, and the middle-aged man hastened away. Now alone, you continued. "See, I had a little help with developing some jutsus. The resurrection jutsu was plagiarized _in concept only_ from Chiyo of the Sand. I figured the rest out, practiced constantly…yeah, and became obsessed with managing to do it after awhile. Mai kind of made me let her follow me around but only under the condition that she stays out of my way and makes herself useful like she promised she could. And she did.” On this note you untied the string and focused on the ink seal. It ‘poofed’ off the paper and you unrolled it. 

“This network that formed around me is incredible at gathering information. They have sources upon sources upon sources in scary places. I can find out _most_ anything if I want to. So because of that I told Mai to write her findings out in a report as often as need be. She learned the most from me, was the person I knew the best out of these people and I trusted her well enough with this task." You smirked, but it was gone quickly as it'd been born. "I ran into Orochimaru a fair few times, and I know he was working on things as strange and illegal as I was. When I saw who had with him- often, it was Sasuke and Kabuto, his right and left hand men...I had my people do some homework on them. I never really got to read too deeply into their findings, but now that Itachi made a request, I had my Hyuuga friend go reclaim all the intel he could from the Wine Cellar so I could do some homework of my own."

Konan was staring at you in disbelief. “So what I'm hearing is that what you hold in your hands could be the very thing we need."

“Better yet.” You began, frowning at the contents of the scroll. The writing in the very beginning was normal but towards the end it was hastily written and crammed together to make everything fit. But as you read further your expression flattened more and more into concern. “This can’t be right.” You said, making Konan perk up. “What? What can’t?”

“According to this report, Jinchuuriki are being abducted. And it's not by us, either; but by other people. Uchiha Sasuke’s underlings to be exact. The Kazekage has also been attacked several times and they almost succeeded in capturing him once. Uzumaki Naruto is still in Konoha and too well protected for them to make an attempt on him but apparently, ‘he is acting strange’, according to what his ‘posse’ has observed from daily behavior ever since he returned to Konoha.”

“Strange in what way?” Konan asked.

“Doesn’t say. But that’s partially irrelevant compared to the rest of the data. Mai procured some files upon infiltrating one of Sasuke Uchiha’s hideouts. Orochimaru and his pet medic Kabuto have been working on a specific project for awhile that is similar in concept to what Sasuke is trying to do, only in Uchiha’s frameset, it is on a far larger scale.” 

“Does it say what the whole project is about?”

“Long story short, they’re using humans as lab rats in an experiment that takes the chakra supply of a Tailed Demon and channeling it through a human body, which, with enough people, they’d act as a group of power transformers at the expense of their conscious minds, at the very least--but in the worst case, it could cost their lives. She did not get the whole rundown of the experiment but the idea is to literally refine a Demon’s energy into a more benign form for use. The target for this project is to learn how to bring life to a corpse, and also, extend life, possibly discover immortality but that’s only a mad scientist’s wet dream in any case.”

“Not necessarily.” Konan objected. “Immortality or something approaching it is possible but exceedingly hard to obtain.”

“The immortality part comes from Orochimaru’s original plan. Mai notes in this report that Kabuto insisted on keeping that project on the side as a possible avenue to their goal. I can see where that would come from, since it has to do with life, but it’s very far fetched. There are jutsus that Orochimaru was rumored to know where he could reanimate corpses with all their faculties intact, memories included, but it was not permanent. There are other jutsus with similar capabilities but shinobi who can perform them are rare; _especially_ in terms of a given time span.” You explained. 

“I can understand where Kabuto is coming from but as you say, its still very far fetched.” Konan said in turn, nodding a little. “What you say is true. Such jutsus are few and far between, the people who can use them are even fewer. Resurrection is a humongous breakthrough. And better still; it isn’t something that the population believes in because it should be literally impossible, and act of giving life limited to women only by biology. So when that Chiyo woman brought Gaara back to life, and only a handful of people were there to see it…when the whole of the Sand Village poured out of the gates and saw Gaara, they didn’t think he died to begin with. And no one would think it real, had they been _told_. They thought she died because of Sasori and technically he _did_ kill her.”

“Mhm.” You said, flipping a piece of meat on the circular grill in the middle of the table. It smelled wonderful in here. The scroll was rolled up in your bag again as of a couple minutes ago. “But why the hell would Uchiha want a pair of dried-up Jinchuuriki? I know he and Uzumaki are butt-buddies and all,” Konan snorted and you smirked, continuing. “We extracted Kyuubi from him. And I didn’t examine him afterwards but I’m pretty sure he was either dead or dieing. Pein-sensei and the others have told me on a couple occasions that when the Nine Dragons Jutsu terminates, the subject dies....er, Ten Dragons, now. Maybe that makes it a tenth more lethal.”

“That is true.” Konan confirmed and then checked some of the meat on skewers. It was chicken, while you were grilling up some shrimp now in a fragrant reddish-orange sauce riddled with pepper flakes that you never smelled before and were planning on tasting for the first time. “I see what you’re trying to get at too. As for the question of ‘why’ would they be interested in used-up Jinchuuriki…a Tailed Demon always leaves an impression of its chakra on its host. This chakra is like a seed; it will feed off the host, grow and grow, until it seeks an outlet. It occurred but once, with a boy named Sora at a temple in Konoha.”

“Now that you mention the name it rings a couple of bells.” You admitted and took up the skewer of shrimp, examining it before taking a bite. The sauce was spicy-sweet but did not overpower the flavor of the seafood…this was quite tasty. “Mmmmmmm.”

“I'll have to try that.” Konan said and picked up a chicken skewer. You nodded and kept eating and she did the same. But food did not halt your conversation in the past and it wouldn’t do so now either. 

“Actually,” Konan began thickly right after she swallowed a bite of chicken. “The whole ‘used-up’ jinchuuriki deal has happened more than once. It was an extremely common practice during the war. Each nation tried to grab a piece of that power while the Tailed Demons weren’t contained and rampaged around as they liked.”

“It wasn’t all that long ago. huh?" You asked and finished your skewer. It was time to try some chicken and begin roasting more seafood and some beef and vegetables. 

“No.” She said after another moment of chewing. “I remember it from when I was young.”

Your jaw nearly dropped. Konan was a lot older than she appeared. 

“What?”

“You’re very well preserved, Konan.” It was not lost on you that she had lived all through wars in her life, but she also never spoke of it. And you elected not to bring it up unless she wanted to talk about it. Old war scars are best left untouched for most people, so scratching at them is impolite. Especially if that person is a friend.

“Thank you. But moving on now,” She wiped her mouth with a napkin and helped put together some skewers, brush them with a random seasoning or sauce and set them down on the grill-iron. She took her time as she did it. There was no requirement to hurry right now, the Games were over for the day and Pein released you from the burden of training until further notice. This was time to relax, even with all the serious talk.

“I can probably dig up plenty of information on this jinchuuriki subject.” She said, brushing more marinade over a skewer full of vegetables and turning them on the grill iron.

You nodded. “Good idea. I can have my people look into it too if you want the extra help.”

“No. Have them keep an eye on Uchiha’s comings and goings instead, if they can. Now what did Itachi want you to do?”

“He wanted me to make Sasuke as barren as the desert.”

Her eyes were upon you in an instant, ignoring the delicate vegetables as they began to crisp at the edges. “And you agreed to this?”

“Why not?” You said. “The great prodigy himself now owes me an unnamed favor at an equally unnamed time. It’s like when you win the lottery and don't where to spend the money first…I don’t know what to do with that favor but I’ll be damned if I let it go to waste. And all I have to do was shoot his brother up." Your grin was both wicked and lopsided. "I can’t _wait_ to poke him. I’d even stick im’ in the, you know…stick, if I could. Wait; it’s probably more of a skinny little twig, my bad.”

She laughed. “How are you going to do that when he’s alert? And why would he really want that? Isn't that a bit...strange?"

“Hell yeah it's strange, but I'm fairly confident that Sasuke has gone off the deep end. Which may or may not have to do with Itachi's peculiar request. I intend to ask him about this." You reached over and moved that nearly burnt veggie skewer from the flame. "As for 'package delivery', that's most likely whenever he ventures another attempt on Itachi's life, though I need to figure out a more reliable method. But that doesn’t have anything to do with food and I don’t like talking about Uchiha Sasuke and his inadequate twig.”

Konan had been busy checking the food on the grill and snorted. “Apparently ‘twig’ is the replacement word for ‘penis’ now?”

“Only Sasuke’s, not that I know what his twig looks like, and I don’t want to either.” 

“Good thing he and Itachi aren’t twins.” Konan commented, making you wrinkle your face up and then devote your attention to the grill. “I wouldn’t be saying shit if they were.” You mumbled. Boy, how true that was. You’ve seen Itachi in a towel before after all. You’ve even seen Itachi strip down to his boxers and…the cherry on top: you’ve seen him _in the shower_. Itachi has, by _no means_ what you referred to as a twig.  
You tried not to gulp and hoped you weren’t blushing; that your face was only warm from the heat rising off the grill-iron. 

Then as if on command Konan pointed it out. “Why so pink?”

“Ohhh the meat isn’t done cooking it’s too rare to eat that’swhyitspink!” You blurted and busied yourself. Whilst your eyes weren’t on her, Konan snickered. You had it bad alright. Real bad.

“You want him.”  
“Hm? Who?”  
“I’m _sure_ you know who.”  
“What?”  
Konan narrowed her eyes slyly, and didn't need to say a word. This time you _knew_ you had colored and there wasn’t any stopping it and you certainly couldn’t blame your flushed face on the heat rising from the center of the table. It was true. He's gorgeous, you shared a room with the guy, and had been seen in his company more than once outside the hotel. She had been there at the night club and saw you both dancing and talking close together. Whether or not you and Itachi tried to conceal the feelings harbored towards one another, any fool could put two and two together.

“So what?” You sulked, defeated.  
“Do something about it.” Konan told you simply. Like it’s the easiest thing in the world. “But Konan,” You protested weakly. “It’s _Itachi_ and-“  
“-Has he given you any indication that he dislikes you?”  
“No?” It came out more as a question. You weren't sure why.  
“Then shut up and eat.”

 

The conversation terminated into silence and eating. Konan was correct as usual, you reflected. Itachi had kissed you. ‘Whatever you want Itachi.’ Said you at that time. A kiss and then a moment later, with a barely-there smirk he said in regards to your puzzled expression: ‘What I want.’. Other than that he peeped on you in the shower, used your breasts as a pillow and in his own way, helped you keep your head up and shoulders back. He ground his hips against yours, wound himself around you on the dance floor, had a few drinks with you and even maintained a relaxed-enough attitude to carry out an intelligent conversation. You both had lunch together, shared the same quarters for this time in Anarchy; he treated you very well and as another being with a brain…not some dumbass broad whom is incapable of higher cognition. And he’s also rather sick in the head. A genius in carnage and technique. What's not to like? Someone countless women and men worship the ground he walks on. Nah. You did _not_ idolize him but you wanted to take this god off his pedestal…now, as you thought about it, you understood that he was practically taking _himself_ down off that pedestal without your help, just to look you in the eye and match wits and skin: something Itachi isn’t one to do for _anybody_ to your knowledge. He seemed to be held above everyone else in his own way (at least where he came from), and was notorious everywhere else.

“Earth to Saiya?” Konan was tapping on your forehead and you shook out of reverie. “AH! Sorry!”

“Thinking about him are you?” She knew it. It’s hard not to notice. When you’re daydreaming you’re pretty easy for her to read.

“Mmhmm.” You admitted through your nose and sealed lips. The meal was done and you ordered some fruit for dessert, Konan goaded you some more about Itachi until you snapped. “What’s the deal with you? Why is this a concern?!” You picked up the tab and both of you left. Konan had dropped into silence in an almost ashamed way. She had pushed too hard about this whole Itachi thing but she almost couldn’t help it. Konan was a workaholic like you and you were basically her best and _only_ friend. She was too busy and that’s aside from being a greatly wanted S-class missing-nin; it’s not exactly the greatest way to foster friendships and build rapport. So she was concerned about you; and kind of hurt that you didn’t show the same interest. She wished you _would_ but then she also had nothing to say about herself. Konan didn’t have the same kind of life other girls got to have growing up and yes, this made her more serious than many women. But she discovered that she loved to babble about relationships and play cupid as much as the best of them once she got a taste of it. It was fun and brainless. The opposite of her usual work which was only fun when it came to severe conflict where she could be challenged in her strengths and galvanize her weaknesses so they _become_ strengths.

“Do you really want to know?” She asked you, having decided to come clean.

“Sure. Why not.”

Konan was almost discouraged by the way you said it…she was becoming sensitive around you. The shy orphaned girl from many years ago was peeking around the corner, trying to come out of hiding after so long of being curled up hidden and terrified under a forgotten, dusty staircase in her mind. This was potentially dangerous for a kunoichi. No, for _both_ of you. “Saiya you’re my best friend.” She declared. “And here’s some news: my life really sucked when I was younger. Pein too. We went through it together and yeah, he’s been there for me from the beginning but you’re my only female friend. And I want to see someone happy for once in my life which has been nothing but misery. So if I am suffocating you then I apologize. I’ll step off—“

“—NO!” You cried, startling her. “No. No Konan, just….no. That’s not what I want…you’re…” You struggled to express it. ‘Mushy’ wasn’t your forte so best go with the straight-shot approach. “You’re my best friend too.”

“But what about Kisame?”

You smiled. “Honestly, he's more like an adopted brother. I never had an older sibling, and when my _actual_ siblings were still alive, I always felt resentment from them in all things. My youngest brother for example, he begged and pleaded with mother and father to let him go to the academy, to become a shinobi. They had to let him do it, because of me, but the others...they didn't get off so lucky. He was the baby, you understand." You lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug and she watched, more astounded that you spoke of your family as it wasn't your own hands covered in their blood. As if it was another person's doing. "But yeah, Kisame. I mean, it sort of happened this way--awkward at first, but he helped me out when he could, in situations where my own siblings would've left me to rot. Like after I revived Sasori, and he pulled some...ah, _'nonsense'_ and left me. Kisame brought me to my room and left before any possible witnesses could think wrong of it." Your smile wasn't there anymore. You fidgeted, this was uncomfortable. You were trying to explain yourself when you didn't want to do so at all. Shouldn't she already know? Were your definitions of 'best friend' wrong, both yours and hers?

"And, well, he sort of just…started acting that way. Since I revived Sasori that one night. That’s who Kisame is to me, kind of like a brother. And you’re my best friend Konan. Now can we stop being soft and squishy and…ah…train, maybe? That’s a good idea. We can come up with some kickass stuff. Hey!” You halted and turned towards a shop front. This was the ‘upper-class’ section of Anarchy and, while this section is as lawless as the rest, it was held in a stranglehold by the most rough n’ tumble gangs that liked to keep their neighborhood nice and clean. Keeping the snitches and thieves and thugs off their streets helped with the aggression level around here…the ‘Berserker Gang' ruled this area and they patrolled the borders of their section of Anarchy (Uptown, they called it) and they liked to beat the living fuck out of anyone who looked funny and put a toe over the line into Uptown. This is why Uptown seemed to be the safest area of Anarchy but it was far from it: Berserker Gang members would walk into people’s houses and do whatever they wanted. Uptown is a prison to those who live within its invisible borders. 

“Look Konan. Why don’t we…uh?” You gestured towards the shop front with a mostly helpless ‘useless-to-myself’ expression and then smiled weakly. Have money, will spend lavishly. Konan followed your hand movements with her eyes to the shop front and grinned. It was one of those stores with everything priced extra high but with good reason; because it is all _that_ good. This shop in particular sold clothing and gear for fighting. Such stores were somewhat common but not exactly a quarter-ryou a dozen either. Since this nameless city has such a grand arena it made sense.

“I get you.” She went inside with you, smirking. “You looked at the schedule earlier?”  
You stopped and affixed Konan with a slightly reprimanding glare, shaking your head a little bit. “Come _on_ Konan. Who are we? Konan, you and I are the top two female s-class missing-nin and the only two women in Akatsuki. We are two of the most wanted people _in the whole damn world_. We can’t walk around in,” You dropped your chin and peered down at yourself. "…ratty old clothes we haven’t replaced in a long time…or at least I can’t. And won’t.”

Having gone from talking about all kinds of solemn matters, it took a moment to sink in but she shot across the store to the clothes racks once it did. “You are very right Saiya. We _have_ to look good.”

“Exactly!”

“So that is why we need to train after this.”

“Yep!” You confirmed distractedly as you pawed through clothing racks almost in a panic. What the hell; you liked almost everything here so far! Except that pair of pants on display. Those were ugly. Oh, and that bandanna handing off a hook on the wall with a bunch of others. Those were badly printed! The cashier watched and laughed then came around the counter to help, yelling over her shoulder into the stockroom where one other woman was. She rushed out and watched the counter and would point stuff out. It ended up being pretty fun as opposed to the traumatic episode of clothes shopping for clubbing. 

“I feel lame.” You admitted to Konan as you watched the cashier ringing up the items you decided to buy. The woman's eyes were set upon her work, determined not to make eye contact with either of you. Her hands slid methodically through a series of tasks; scanning prices, removing ink tags, and folding each clothing article neatly with the practiced ease and speed of one whom is well accustomed to her job.  
“Why?” Konan asked, also watching the cashier's hands for the moment.

“Because this is something you’d see people doing on a sitcom. ‘We got to look good!’, so they go out and buy stuff, then go to their function looking like clowns and get laughed out of the room.” You explained.

Konan laughed. “Except we have good taste.”  
“I like to think so.”

The cashier agreed, and finished packing up all the purchases into bags. You left with Konan and wandered Uptown. And upon walking around for awhile you both were on your way out of Uptown and you saw a good deal of commotion. Some Berserker gangbangers were standing around a bunch of people in a semi-circle, cracking their knuckles and snarling curses at the those across from them. And these people were a motley bunch. Two grown men in what looked like green spandex and orange legwarmers (and scary eyebrows, Jashin help you keep your mouth shut) a young man with pale lavender Hyuuga eyes, a girl with twin buns for a hairdo, a guy with feral slit-pupiled eyes and a huge white dog beside him, some fat-ass with shaggy hair with a hand buried in a bag of fried pork rinds, some dude off to the side with what you dubbed as ‘pineapple hair’ and a bored expression burrowed six-feet-under into his shrewd brown eyes and…the best part (to you), was…

“Say, Konan?”

“Hm?”

“When did Deidara get one of those….ah, you know, a switcharoo operation?”

“A WHAT?”

“You know!” You fidgeted in discomfort, shifting the bag handles to your opposite hand as the plastic material itched your palms. “A sex change!”

“That’s…not…” She trailed off as she blinked past the Berserkers to the motley Konoha crew. “…Deidara…?” She cocked her head and quirked a brow.

“Could've fooled me!” You declared. “Similar complexion, blue eyes, annoying facial expression, and of course a unibang.”

“Unibang huh.” Konan repeated after you dryly, eyeing Ino's cascade of blonde hair falling over one eye. “Let’s stop staring at the circus freaks and keep going. We have to train.”

“But!”

“No.”

“But-but!! Come on!”

“Noooo.”

“Fiiiine.” You sulked and followed her, looking over your shoulder at them and once out of ear and eyeshot said, “I really wanted to get even with that guy though.”

“Who, now?”

“That green guy and his protégé. The ones that prattle on and on about youth.”

“Ah you mean Rock Lee and Might Guy.” She translated.

“Yes yes them.” You rolled your eyes. “I have a score to settle with Might Guy from…” You trailed off and became surprised. “…From, wow, years ago now.”

“I am curious as to why they’re here though.” Konan said.

“Me too. I guess I’ll get my chance another time.”

“Does it really matter so much?” Konan asked. “But you probably will get that chance. Anyway, this can’t be good that they are here.”

“Yeah. Anarchy just got found out for one thing.” You said in turn. “Now what? That safehouse is about to become useless.”

Konan shook her head. “Nothing is going to happen unless several nations rally together. And they don’t have that kind of organization.”

“Wouldn’t know about any of that to tell you the truth. I’m not into management or politics or whatever it is. Not unless I find a use for it.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Konan reassured you. “That is what Pein and I deal with. You are the medic. Worry about health, not other things.”

“I would’ve accepted a, ‘Stick where you’re better acquainted’ you know.”

“Sure.” You both set your items down at Konan’s place. This was the clothes shopping you needed to do anyway; you had gone so long without replenishing your wardrobe which was now down to some basic garments which were beginning to look ratty from overuse. When you could return to the hotel room, you'd be able to dispose of a few things that lately became ragged from training. The rest could be placed in a storage scroll until you got home to base.

“Okay. So.” You squared off across from Konan outside. “Now to think.”

“Tomorrow’s fight is supposed to be a ‘Catfight’.” Konan mimed air quotes and you groaned. “If only it had a better name. Let me guess: all girls, no weapons, kitten paws only?” You held your hands up, fingers curled inward, and pawed at the air. Konan watched and attempted not to be amused.

“Well, nothing sells tickets like a group of women attacking one other, that's for sure." Konan's answer wasn't unexpected. Sex sells, and this town has more men than women, especially with the tournament going on. "But 'officially', it’s one of the arena settings used to cripple teams by taking out most of the women in each team and throwing them into an arena together in a type of battle royale. We are encouraged to kill in this one in keeping with most combat modes; but other methods of disabling an opponent are acceptable. It will serve to narrow down the choices of team pairings later on for certain challenges. For instance, if a team’s medic is female and does not come out of tomorrow’s arena alive, those teams will not be able to participate in medic-requirement challenges.”

“I gathered that.” You answered. “Did Akatsuki go through this one before?”

“Once. It happened during the first tournament we participated in and I killed everyone with one jutsu.”

“Whoa! Save some for me this time?" 

Konan smiled. “Ever since then they excluded Akatsuki from the Catfight challenge. Now that you are here they probably think I won’t try that jutsu again because I could risk killing you too. Which is only ironic, considering that you've proven you can rise from the dead. But as I understand it, the tournament committee is all new people this year."

“Due to that, maybe things have changed. Publicity, and all that. I'm sure they just want to see a bunch of women clawing each other, wrestling in the dirt and pulling one another's hair.” You pointed out sharply. As though to warn her. Like you _needed_ to.  
“That’s why we’re going to train right now.” Konan confirmed. “And in all probability we won’t be allowed back into a Catfight next time, if there _is_ a next time. I think it's safe to say they'll learn their lesson."

“Whatever happens is on those who signed up, we shouldn't be punished for that." You sniffed arrogantly. "Of course, they shouldn't call it a 'Catfight', either. It's demeaning. But I digress." You watched Konan nod her agreement, and you rotated your left shoulder, then your right one, beginning to loosen up for training. You had made so many purchases that carrying those heavy bags clear across town made your shoulders a little stiff. "So, I have a few ideas…” You began explaining, Konan listened, and the rest of the day was involved heavily in training and plotting.

Later on you scooped up your new possessions, put them into a new blank storage scroll Konan gave to you and departed for your hotel room. When you got there you were alone and were surprised by this. Itachi must be otherwise engaged right now...but in _what_ , you had no clue and bitterly hoped it wasn’t a sexual activity. But he wasn't declared as your boyfriend yet, and so, you had to throw those thoughts off and try not to think on it. As you opened the scroll holding your things and unpacked your new clothes, you went through the older things and tossed out the truly unsalvageable clothes.  
While going through these motions, you pondered the reason why you were embittered over that earlier idea. What’s the big deal anyway? It is not as though he’s your fiancée or anything, and he is a red blooded man...a gorgeous one, at that. What Itachi did was Itachi’s prerogative. He could do whatever he wanted when he wanted to do it and it was the same for you. You could come and go as you pleased too, a fact you enjoyed greatly. 

But it was something you couldn’t get over. You were looking forward to seeing him here when you arrived and it was a let down that Itachi wasn’t whiling away the hours by tending to his blades, meditating, or scoffing at the worldwide news in his strangely dignified, arrogant manner. 

So you went back out and picked up some things from a local grocery store (bloody hell that was funny. No one made you pay because they recognized you and were too busy hiding) so you had the run of the store and moseyed along, gathering what you wanted, putting it in a bag and leaving. Signs of life would return to the store shortly thereafter once they were sure you were gone. 

Upon returning and opening the door to peer into the room (albeit hopefully), it was still empty of life and you reasoned with yourself, thinking it was useless to hope he’d be there in that hour you were gone. So you closed the door behind and got to changing into something comfortable: a pair of loose grey sweatpants and an equally ill fitting t-shirt that consumed your torso easily. It was dyed to have bloodstains and, in bold black print, read, ‘Don’t Piss Me Off. I’m Running out Of Places to Hide the Bodies.’ You threw yourself down onto the bed with the remote and the bag of goodies, and started opening up containers. It didn’t involve cooking, and nearly none of your dinner was going to be nutritious. Felt good not to cook all this time, or worry about the impact on your figure--you fight for a living, so the extra calories would burn off easily. That being said, you did at least have a healthy bottle of organic tea and a small container of fresh fruit, but the rest was things like fruit-flavored candy, chocolate, and honey roasted peanuts. 

The television had little to nothing to offer on its channels but you stuck through it and watched whatever there was of interest. Luckily, after a landslide of infomercials and three sitcoms you found a pretty decent horror film. It was fairly recent. The special effects and plot were good for once, and your mind was distracted from a certain man for now. Another movie went on after that, (this one was about vampires) and it was definitely set in an alternate universe. There was even more blood and gore in this one, and the humans were practically extinct, but the plot began to run thin, and you were getting bored. During this second movie you had finished eating and were beginning to drowse. You rested on your stomach facing towards the TV across from the foot of the bed, and were hugging a pillow with your head propped up on it when your eyelids drooped. The lamps were off and the only thing lighting this room was the television. When your eyes opened you noticed that a person was sitting up in bed next to you with his cloak spread over his legs as if it were a black and red cloudy blanket, one sleeve hanging limp over the edge of the mattress. You turned your head against the pillow, neck craned at a partially uncomfortable angle, and blinked sleepiness out of your eyes in Itachi’s general direction. “Hi.” You greeted groggily, and pushed your hands against the mattress to sit up and fold your legs. You rubbed heel of a palm against one eye, and noticed that Itachi was eating your food and reading a paper with deep creases riddled throughout its surface. The bedside lamp was on, showering him in yellowish light. 

“Mm.” Was his muffled response. His mouth was full with the last strawberry. But you didn’t care that he nicked some food. You wouldn’t be able to eat it all anyway and then decided to crawl over to the other side of him, now settling down and warming his side of the bed, for he was on your side at present. You had taken the pillow with you and placed it behind your back then leaned against him with an unopened box of hazelnut pocky in hand, eyes roving towards the paper. The television was off but you did not notice it just yet despite the lack of noise within the room.

“Whassat?” You asked a little thickly, still sleepy, and crunched on a pocky stick.  
“Tournament schedule.”  
“Oh. When’d you get back?”  
Itachi glanced over at the alarm clock then replied, “Two hours and fourty-five minutes ago.” His hair was damp and he was letting it fall around his shoulder for once, rather than in the normal neck-low ponytail. He was also wearing a fitted black shirt and his boxers probably, but you couldn’t see because of the cloak draped over his lap. You wished you were that cloak right now. Itachi’s lap was probably a good place to be in one way or another.

_’Damn!’_ You cursed inwardly. _’What the fuck is wrong with me?! A second doesn’t go by that I don’t think of molesting him!’_

Yeah. You asked yourself that question often now. But, on the bright side, Itachi let you touch him and didn’t shoo you away or placidly move elsewhere like he did when some fangirling-foaming-mad bitch tried to touch him. That, or any man or woman who took a shine to him and thought they could schmooze up to him as close as possible would die of unknown causes.

_You_ got away with it miraculously enough.

“Pein-sensei wants us there early tomorrow.” You told him. It was midnight right now. “But I think only Konan and I have to report to the stadium because it’s a Catfight.” The name of the impending battle still felt a touch demeaning. There is a misnomer that women fight terribly, but that's not true of all. Then again by that logic, perhaps the name was chosen in irony. 

“We all must be there.” Itachi corrected. “This particular challenge typically does not last long.”

“Yeah well that other day took awhile.”

“Yesterday was an oddity, nor was it the same thing. Normally there are a few arena challenges per day.”

“Oh, we’ll see about that.”

“Yes we will.” Itachi said. 

“You’re in my spot.”

“And _you_ were in the middle of the bed.”

“So?!”

“Deal with it.”

You gave up early, on account of the tiny dispute not being worth it. He wasn't going to budge anyway. “Ok fine. Then I’m going to sleep. Don’t want to piss sensei off twice in a row by being late again.”

Itachi was amused, but not openly so. He had not become _so_ comfortable in your presence that he would turn transparent. But the way you acted in respect to Pein struck him as funny. It was as though you were a genin trying not to agitate your moody teacher on the second day of training when you are, in all actuality, a jounin, plus the premier medic in the ninja world aside from Tsunade and also a member of Akatsuki, the most prestigious group a missing-ninja could aspire to be invited into and a word on the tongues of _all_ coupled with _intense_ fear and hatred.

He watched you get up and clean off of food packages and turned down the covers on that side of the bed. Itachi decided to follow your example and stripped his shirt off for bed after hanging his cloak up and climbed under the blankets. When he was about to get under the covers, you were adrift in a calm sea of sleep.

In the morning Itachi awoke first and felt a light weight on his chest and then realized…it was your head. You were using him as a pillow, arms draped over him, one ear down on his heart, facing towards him. He could see your eyes were closed and you were breathing deeply, easily and slowly. One of his hands rested on the small of your back, which was bared because your shirt was bunched up midway and the sheets were tangled around your legs. His gaze lingered on the hair-thin scar up your spine, and on a whim, set the blunt edges of his newly painted nails along it. Itachi traced the length of that scar carefully from the base of your spine upwards, admiring it in a strange way. It wasn’t perfect but it lingered there on naturally tan skin that would otherwise be _almost_ flawless. It stuck out to him with his keen black Uchiha eyes and yet again, he found himself attracted to that which is imperfect and will permanently remain so. The skin under his fingertips was wonderfully soft and firm. He contemplated doing more, but you woke up as he placed his hand flat on your back and ran it upwards under your shirt, definitely not caring about how you might react. A sensation was mounting within him. He could not decipher it. And it was bothersome.

“Itachi?” You asked and yawned. “Morning.” You stretched and closed your eyes, then once again pressed your face against his chest. “You smell good.” You commented absently, and noted the warmth of his hand coasting along your back. “And whatever you’re doing feels nice.”

He was only carefully stroking along your spine but now you discovered that you didn't mind being petted. This was a gentle way to wake up, and something which never happened before. It was... _innocent_. Innocent, and nice, a peculiar offset to the shades of brutality that color an ordinary day. 

“Anything else?” Itachi inquired sarcastically.  
“Yeah. Your pillow sucks so I used you instead.”

He smirked.

 

_Later on, at the Arena Antechamber…_

 

“Hahahahahahaaa! A frickin’ catfight…REOW!” 

“Hidan!” Konan admonished.

“Hah! But that’s what it fucking IS!”

“You are intolerable.” Konan informed him coldly.

You were sitting nearby Hidan actually but were used to his mouth now. Itachi was standing off to your other side, leaning against the wall, arms crossed. He was ignoring Hidan’s motorized mouth and listening both for the announcer in the stadium and to Kisame, Deidara, Tobi and Zetsu as they bickered incessantly since they all first arrived. 

This room was crowded with teams, and the antechamber on the opposite side of the field was even more cram-packed full of people. But generally the other groups shied away from Akatsuki’s ‘spot’ in the room which was the corner to the right nearest the doors into the field. Your overshadowed purple eyes were focused unblinkingly on the doors and you were playing with the Jashin charm which wasn’t around your neck at present. The silver was warming in your hands as you wound the beaded chain over one hand again and again and again and turned the charm itself over and over in your off-hand. Hidan continued to talk as loudly as he could and publicly show himself to be a chauvinist pig, and Konan berated him because she could _not_ stand him right now. Sasori was sitting on a bench and was listening to the increasingly boisterous argument progressing between Tobi and Deidara now mainly (Zetsu and Kisame wisely caved and stepped off), Kakuzu was perusing his Bingo Book and scribbling in it often and lastly, Pein was standing between you and Konan, facing the conversation between her and Hidan and appearing to ignore everyone in the room altogether, as he was entrenched in thought. 

“Keep rubbin’ that and there’ll be nothin’ left of it.” Kisame’s voice surprised you and you grinned up at him, caught a touch off-guard by the comment. “I heard one of my cousins say that to his fiancée behind a closed door once.”

Kisame snorted. “Hah! You listened in?”

“Nah I was walking by their room when I heard it. Of course I stopped to listen though after catching _that_ bit, but I didn’t get to stay long since I was trying to run away from the old guy my parents liked to invite into our part of the compound too often for my taste.”

“That’s the one that you were supposed to be betrothed to?”

“Yeah. He was also the first to die.” You smiled brightly and stopped wringing the necklace, fastening it around your neck now and letting it drop beneath the collar of your cloak. “I wasn't aware of it at the time, but he was indeed the one making a deal with my parents. He liked to stalk me...I suppose for 'research' purposes. He was terrible at it though, lucky for me. I'm not sure how some civilians think they can get the drop on a trained ninja. Especially if they're creaky old men whose knees crack whenever they take a single step."

“Anything interestin’ happen with that?” Kisame asked. By now Pein had come up for air out of his thoughts and had turned his ear a fraction to the side, in order to listen. 

“Where to start.” You pondered aloud. “Oh, lets try the time he decided he wanted to peek on me when I was going into the shower!”

“How the hell did you find _that_ out? That’s easy for anyone with part of a brain to pull off.” Kisame asked, bordering incredulity. 

“Yeah, I know what you mean, but this case was different. I had not gotten into the shower at the time. See, at the time there was an issue in the basement with the water heater and my miserly father let it go for awhile because he was convinced all the women in the family spent too much time bathing. I'm not sure what caused it...but I'd have to run the water for awhile before it began heating up properly. So, the water was running for a bit, because our temperamental water heater was always very slow in the morning, and this vile man stuck his big ugly face in and the door creaked. I was about to undress too, it’s a good thing that moron was such a klutz or he might’ve gotten his wish.” You shuddered. "The incident was concealed by my father. This man was too well respected by my family and community for me to breathe a word of it. No one would have believed me; it would've been my word against his, and given my age at the time, they'd especially think I was making things up because I never made it a secret that I disliked him."

Pein listened and felt a minor stab of annoyance at the mention of this incident; and narrowed his eyes a fraction but said nothing. If he was correct in his thinking, you would have barely been a teenager when this happened. He would have been training you for a couple years by then, and there were days that you met up for training and you'd be rather irate, but it never occurred to him that you could've been upset because of incidents like _that_. 

“And that’s the worst of it?” Kisame questioned. Distasteful though the subject had become, it was something to talk about. And you seemed okay with this for now.

“Definitely not.” You didn't shudder, but he could detect the light shiver of disgust in your voice. “Let's see--one of the worst episodes was when I'd been left alone at the compound; there was some brew-festival going on and literally everybody in my house went, either to participate in work or play. I was exhausted from exams, so I stayed home to relax while it was quiet. I passed out in the living room, and he must have come stumbling in while I was asleep, but he--"

“That’s enough.” Pein cut across you frigidly.

You were caught off guard and fell silent, blinking at him uncertainly. “Sensei?”

“You are far from deaf.” 

“Right." You averted your gaze and then watched Kisame out the corner of a amethyst eye. Kisame feigned a neutral expression but you could tell that it was a facade. “Pein?” Konan and Hidan were both looking at the schedule tacked up on the wall. “They made some changes to the schedule this morning. I did not notice it until now.”

Pein’s gaze flickered to Konan and when he looked back at you, they were ringed in grey more severe than usual. “Do _not_ speak of it again.” He warned you in a low voice before heading over to Konan.

You waited for him to be gone from earshot in the noisy room and turned fully towards Kisame. But he spoke as you opened your mouth so you immediately clammed up. “You’re his student. So think of who he is for a minute. Of course he doesn’t want you talking about that kind of thing in public.” Kisame explained. 

“I wasn’t thinking.” You admitted. “I’ve been trying to _avoid_ thinking too much for a little bit now, to de-stress. As you can see it isn’t going very well. And I hate to admit it, but I'm not completely ready to let the past go. I can't forgive them for sweeping that bastard's numerous infractions under the rug and then trying to stick me with him. He harassed me for a good portion of my life."

“That's all in the past, and you learned them good about their mistakes.” Kisame shrugged and then adjusted the strap across his chest. Samehada’s handle sunk an inch lower behind his shoulder when he did so. “We’re supposed to be on mental holiday but hell, you know everything’s going to get a lot tougher when we return to base. I’m sure Leader has plenty for us to do.” Now unless you were deceived, it was as though he was trying to pick your brain, subtly fishing for information. The subject change wasn't completely unexpected, but it was also too abrupt to go unnoticed.

“I wish I knew." Was your response. "But it’s not as though knowing would help unless I’d need to pick up a party favor for the occasion, so to speak.” You took it as a cue to say this. Might as well. Except Kisame wasn’t prodding you for clues and it was your imagination that he was. Kisame would come out and ask; he was not one to beat around the bush. Not unless he had a very good reason.

“Come along now Saiya!” Konan called to you from where she stood next to Pein in front of the schedule. “We go outside first because we have the highest score.” 

You rose slowly, frowning as you turned your head this way and that, and wondered how many women were here. The sheer numbers as opposed to your one self was daunting; and that is only the comparisons to how many are in _this_ antechamber. “Uhm?”

Kisame, who had been leaning with a shoulder to the wall next to your seat, reached down and picked up the sheathed katana that you had laid down on the bench seat behind you. He prodded you between the shoulder blades with the handle whilst he held it by the sheathed blade. “Hey.” You turned around to face the sharklike one you'd begun thinking of as a brother. “Thanks.” You took the katana but he held onto it and you ended up unsheathing it by three inches before realizing he wasn’t letting go. A question filled your eyes.

“You’re not just a medic." He began, and nodded once to the blade where its partially unsheathed metal glimmered ominously. "You’re a swordswoman too now…don’t think too hard, or you'll get caught dead when you don't have to." He had been there to square off and test your skill with a blade. And while quick on your feet, sometimes you would over-evaluate a situation, which can be costly. "Act instead. Even if you don’t have your blade in hand.” He let it go and you pushed the rest of the sword back into the sheath with a nod. “Got it.” And with this said, you stood next to Konan and slid the katana between a couple belts under your cloak.

Konan was fixing her origami flower and then walked out with you unconcernedly. “Nervous at all?”

“Never.”

“Good.” Konan smiled and sunk lower behind her collar, quite relaxed. The crowd rippled in ever shifting waves that practically whispered and purred in ghastly anticipation, bringing to your mind the image of a thousand-headed beast, with demonic faces that rumbled in hunger, licking their miniscule fangs, thirsting for bloodshed as one craves to breathe air after being nearly drowned. Compared to other days when the horde shrieked and railed against your eardrums, you could hear a pin drop. It was the calm before the storm, or a pack of wolves weaving through the trees, eyes reflecting light, smiling hungrily at the unsuspecting flock of sheep. The predominantly male crowd ringing the field, to you, was more predatory than the potential foes that you’d seen quivering within the antechamber; electrified waters prepared to bust the reservoir gates open and flood the stadium, so many women were there. 

“The amount seems disproportionate to the number of teams.” Itachi commented within the antechamber to the others. Pein inclined his chin a fraction, eyes remaining on yours and Konan’s backs. He would not be the one to respond.

“This is one of the challenges which offers an opportunity to outside parties or individuals to earn money and/or fame. There are more women here who are on their own than there are women who came here signed with a group.” Kakuzu’s deep voice rumbled out helpfully. “There could be a Dogfight sometime later, as you know.” In which case, the situation would be inversed. It'd be only men battling one another in the enormous closed ring.

“Tobi hopes not!”  
“And why would that be?” Sasori asked.  
“Because there won’t be many people left after that, Tobi thinks.”  
“True.” Itachi assented thoughtfully.  
“It depends on how things go. There were more women signing up than men this time around.” Kakuzu said. “Nowadays kunoichi are becoming more and more numerous.”

True. The ninja profession had been largely male dominated. But these days…the academies were cranking out more and more kunoichi. Parents dumped their babies into the academies early as possible in support of their countries because, in all truth, that is what was needed with how criminal organizations such as Akatsuki were killing hundreds to thousands of people. And it’s not only Akatsuki but groups like the one supporting Orochimaru when he lived, abducting people constantly for experimentation. Other factors included disagreements between nations, border disputes, mission conflicts, espionage that shinobi never returned from, and the brutally high mortality rate of ANBU Black Ops. Plus how people didn’t all survive the exams in the interim that bolstered up the rankings of young ninja from genin, to chuunin, to jounin. This is a fast-paced blood-soaked world with zero guarantees of survival or success. 

All the nations were pushing propaganda these days and they didn’t have to push terribly hard. Parents willingly would submit their children to the Academies to support their Hidden Villages because that is the _army_ …the shinobi of the nation are the arms that defend and strike out in protection. Without them they are all helpless so, as a result, more and more boys and girls (girls especially since parents protected their little girls more because they’re female and the ancient nailed-in socialization of ‘protecting the child bearers’ comes into play) were going to Academy or joining up in other ninja-related types of things, be it running weapon supply shops, tending to greenhouses where herbs for medicine were grown year-round, making tough and functional clothing for fighters to wear in battle and helping to stock up the supplies in apartment-style quarters for shinobi and anything else that wasn’t mentioned. 

It was the patriotic thing to do now. The _right_ thing to do, for Kage’ and country. 

You remembered starting out tending to herbs, grapes and hops in the greenhouses within the Gyaku Compound when you were very young and sometimes traveled out to the farms too; that was your chore. Watching the plants, plus, you learned to cook as soon as you were tall enough to reach the counter standing on a stool. You always were shorter than other children and today you were shorter than the average woman. Konan was taller than you but did not make you feel small like others did, as she stood next to you in the middle of this field. 

A field built not only for warriors of the past, but for shinobi today. Not for medics like you. Your whole life had been built around that whether you wished to admit it or not; growing up tending plants that were sold to shops, that’s what mother always had you doing, then when you insisted, she sent you packing to the Grass Academy where you were more of a fighter before you switched over to being strictly a Medic. Now, as you looked at your half-finger gloves with a ring threaded over your left pinky, you realized…seldom was there someone more balanced than yourself, with all these abilities that can be mixed at a whim.  
Konan watched you out the corner of an eye, silently turning your hands over, then crunching them into fists and hanging your wrists by your sides. Her smile turned into a low laugh lost under the unusually soft nickering of the crowd. 

_\- She's become more certain of herself.-_ Konan said to Pein in his head.  
_/It’s taken her long enough./_ Came his amused reply. _/Although I cannot say that I am upset with her over it. It’s hard to accredit oneself for something great as a warrior until you finally have causation to believe it./_

_\- At least she's not drunk off success, not yet anyway. If she were, she'd get too sloppy.-_ Konan replied. ____

Konan slid a sidelong glance your way and saw that you seemed prepared as she hoped you’d be. One of your hands lightened upon the pommel of your black katana, the wide sleeve of your Akatsuki cloak gathering the breeze and flaring wide about your bent elbow. “Think we can try that technique?” Konan asked you nonchalantly, as though referring to the weather. 

“Yeah.” You said, cocking your head in her direction. With the light wind, you could see it rustling the petals of her paper rose, the fabric of her clothing, and a few strays of indigo hair. “Let’s go for it. But are you sure you can handle it?” 

Konan snorted lightly. “I should be asking _you_ that, Saiya.” 

__“Oh I’ll be fine. The last time I tried it I wasn’t able because I was too inexperienced with my own technique. Now that Pein-sensei has restored my memories though, I am confident.”_ _

__“Confident, eh?” She echoed smugly. “I am confident as well.”_ _

__“In which aspect?”_ _

__“That not only will we pull it off but it will become something that is a great weapon between ourselves.” She paused and added as an afterthought, “It might warrant a rating in the books.”_ _

__“Really!” You feigned surprise and, as women began to gush out of the antechambers, you relaxed and steeled yourself, expression setting into the poker face you refined through years of training. Your hands rose up from your sides and Konan turned, walking away, leaving you smack-dab in the middle of the field. The day was cloudless, and your eyes glinted luminous violet in unforgiving sunlight radiating from above. Your countenance contained neither murder nor hatred, but eerie calm that froze the blood of women who continued to move steadily forth to the center of the arena. Your eyes eased shut and your hands folded into the seal of concentration. Konan had moved to the outer rim of the field._ _

__The announcer cried out. “BEGIN!”_ _

__But no one within the antechambers that came along with their female team mates got to see what happened next because the doors slammed shut and locked themselves to stop people from trying to help them and to stop the women from escaping. Pein turned and went out of the antechamber and headed for the roof. A person couldn’t fit into the crowded stands edgewise now that the men from the other teams went coursing up the stairs into the stands. The rest of Akatsuki followed Pein up and settled down on the wide ring-shaped roof to see the action. They settled themselves in the spaces where the cloth overhangs were most shredded and less likely to obscure their view._ _

__Konan sprouted her paper-feathered wings and soared into the air, sailing over you and calling down in the process. "Don’t hold back!”_ _

__You didn’t need to be told twice. _‘But,’_ You reflected while opening wide the whole reservoir of your chakra. Bolts of energy snapped and crackled around you, but it was not electricity. It was more malignant. _‘It would be nice if...’_ You continued to think haltingly, furthering your technique and giving it shape now._ _

__Wind kicked up abruptly while Konan maneuvered gracefully through the air, sending fleets of origami weapons to the nearly one-thousand-strong force of kunoichi down below. More energy crackled and Konan took the cue to focus her attack and watch herself as well as you now. She had to make sure no one disturbed you and she was doing a bang-up job so far. You hadn’t moved and were unscratched. You wouldn’t be able to do this without her, because it required the whole of your willpower, and you couldn't move a muscle until you were ready. The ground shuddered when your internal wellspring of energy opened as broad as it could. Even the civilians whom were insensitive and untrained in matters of chakra could feel it, the wrongness, the unseen poison filling the air._ _

___‘If only they realized they don’t have to tell me anymore.’_ _ _

___The wind howled so loudly the emcee’s voice on the loudspeakers was lost. But another noise overtook it all._  
The shrieking.  
The flapping of paper on gale-force winds.  
But mainly it was the haunting noise of over a thousand women’s voices on a rising gust which began to spin so intensely, reaching to the sky, which mysteriously began to redden with a flame-like glow. 

__The wind was becoming a tornado wall, barely contained inside the barrier walls around the ring. It began to obscure the audience's vision, even as women were lifted off the ground upon which they stood. Some were flung out of the stadium, but mostly they stayed within the whirlwind. The temperature within the stadium rose from warm to unbearable. The reddish-orange glow became more vibrant and Konan’s origami itself ignited; cutting paper lit on fire was more formidable on this slicing wind, as she empowered it with her chakra and made certain that it would not lose its shape and sharpness. Blood swung in long arcs through the air, spraying the crowd as though it were rain, splattering against the high walls around the field, and the wind itself rammed bodies into those walls, threw them into the crowd, sent them flying out of the building into the sea which wasn’t so far away when a body is traveling at such a velocity._ _

__All the while, the temperature mounted to unbearable levels. So much so that you made yourself a shield and circulated cold air inside of it. If you didn’t do so you would’ve burnt to a crisp…like how people were doing now. Once again the stadium turned into a human barbeque. Bodies within the limit of the jutsu simultaneously combusted at this point. What looked like ribbons of lava singed through the air in serpentine streams; really it was the airborne blood and paper catching on fire briefly and blurring out of sight, becoming extinguished. Above the hellish roar of wind and fire, terrified shrill cries pierced every single eardrum present. You could hardly hear a thing. The shield was barely blocking out some noise as well at the eye of the storm, and there was a substance building up all around your barrier. The sand was at such a temperature, it had begun to melt, and with the shield, it had begun to form around you in a solid cocoon of liquified heat, sluggishly solidifying in peculiar shapes. If this continued, you'd have no easy way out, so you chose to extend the shield upwards through the eye of the storm, a column of protection that Konan quickly sought out._ _

__Now it was no longer bodies but crumpled, shriveled black bits n’ peices floating through the hellstorm. Konan sailed through the storm. Her wings were blackened at the edge of each piece of origami that composed them. Konan had her ways of remaining unscathed, but the sheer volume of chakra was enough to vex even _her_ temporarily, and she was glad of the help in keeping safe when you decided to press the chakra shield upwards in a column through the eye of the firestorm. She floated, and watched. With all the dry wind and fire and sand, the only wet substance was blood. It stained her dead white wings in quantity. She looked like a nephilim instead right now, not God’s Angel. But nevertheless she was beautiful in her airborne acrobatics before, and now, she rested midair. Konan acted as your eyes too and would let you know when to stop. It was hard to see through the superheated vortex and all the buildup of melted sand. And your chakra stores were depleting to your last 50%. This jutsu has sapped 200% from your overstocked ‘chakra well’ and it was now, as we speak, bringing you down to 45%. _ _

___Up above…the rest of Akatsuki stared._  
That’s it. They stared, rooted to the spot, each of them.  
Even Pein. 

__The screaming of wind and woman had terminated. That hell storm roared its last as it was banished, and you left your air-conditioned shield working longer. Now that the extreme temperature outside your confines was gone you felt suddenly very cold. But when you were certain you could drop your shield, what you saw was awe-inspiring._ _

__The sand had been blasted into glass alright: a swirl right towards where the vortex had been; situated around you. The sun glared against this newly cooling glass which was streaked in a vast spiral with an array of reds and flecks of black. It probably looked like a strangely colored version of Tobi’s mask. Except where you stood the glassy ground was formed into deep spiral ruts, a few tendrils rising in curved spikes around where your shield had existed, like the prongs that hold a gem in a ring, but they extended high around where your shield stood in the storm's eye. You leapt up and out from between those glassy tendrils, taking passing notice that it was flecked with ash like an imperfect jewel can be, and streaked with more crimson and rust red on the inside._ _

__You heard things hitting the ground hard all over the place. They looked like…perhaps, large bales of burnt paper. Konan, now free of the shield, soared between these falling objects which rained down thick and many from having been blown sky-high. But when they hit the ground, they seemed to sound far too heavy to be bunches of paper._ _

__There was a few more screams, but they were higher up, descending, speeding from up above. The nearest one crashed to Earth about twelve feet away. It screamed…but to scream would mean that it was _human_. And there was certainly nothing human seeming about that _thing_. _ _

____Scree!__  
Thud, splat.  
Dead. 

____EEEK!__  
Thud. Crunch.  
Dead. 

____AHHHH--!__  
Thud, roll, snap.  
Dead. 

___‘…’_  
…Thud… _CRACK!~_  
…Dead. 

__Thud, thud, thud.  
Dead, dead, dead._ _

__You sidestepped one. It cracked and a red substance oozed out of the tangle of steaming, broken limbs. You peered down your shoulder at this lump. You saw the light go out of its once-bright aqua eyes. Eyes that probably always conveyed happiness, abundant life and energy.  
Heh. _Not anymore._ How she kept her eyes intact through all that was a miracle in and of itself._ _

__Konan swept by you and caught you around the middle, lifting you up into the air, away from the mess of blackened limbs you had been staring at. You did not fight her and after she swung through the air in a loose, graceful loop, she paused, poised midair, blinking down at the stadium. A set of bodies fused together in a terrified, burnt hug landed heavily where you'd been standing._ _

__You looked too and were glad you did. The sun was shining on new glass that made a swirled, imperfect mirror out of the arena field._ _

__It was breathtakingly beautiful._ _


	25. Batteries Not Included

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In his anger, Sasori makes what proves to be a fatal error. Retribution for his actions is swift, and he will be feeling the results for days to come.

Batteries Not Included

 

The arena’s mood was in ferment. That crowd was bloodthirsty and they had been given more than their fill of carnage for this day. Konan soared overhead with you in her arms, doing laps around the glass field in the air. After a couple passes she let you drop to the ground. You landed neat as a pin and glanced around and up at the emcee’s box. 

“Aaaa…aand that’s that, folks.” The emcee called out, his usually perky voice downplayed to a low tremor by shock. “In light of the current…ah…circumstances,” He paused uncertainly, seeming to read something, and then resumed his normally loud and pleasant bravado. “There will be a three hour break until the next challenge.” The bell banged out its dismissal so loudly that you were surprised that the glassy field did not crack all the way across, from speaker to speaker. 

You moved foreword and leapt up and over the wall, startling a few people in the crowd. The antechamber doors were not accessible, being frozen shut by the glass, and the locks and hinges were partially melted too. The crowd spared itself by shuddering away from the walls. The action was _right_ in their fucking faces and, sick as it might be, the blood that sprayed them helped cool their skin from the storm by a small amount. Some shinobi on staff at the arena for situations like these were peppered throughout the stands, looking exhausted, many of them clutching incantation scrolls. They had to protect the onlookers and the building itself and had been dispatched at a moment's notice. The force field they built up was sufficient, but draining, and ordinarily takes a concerted effort to maintain. Luckily, they didn't have to make it last very long, as they had been sent out only when the 'crowd participation' part began.

When you had hopped up above the wall and perched carefully on the ledge, crouched and balancing without a wobble, you must’ve given them a fright because they shuffled away, tripping over seats, murmuring collectively and ( it seemed to you) incoherently with so many voices colliding together. Three rows vacated, the people shrinking away as though you were Typhoid Mary carrying the plague. Another row of onlookers clambered away and pressed back to the rest of the crowd. 

All this as you simply crouched there on the wall, watching them with cool violet eyes within that ‘give-them-nothing’ poker face. Once you hopped off the wall and started walking down the aisle in front of the front seats. You took your time, eyeing them from the corner of your eye for a minute, letting them feel like your passing glance alone would make their skin bubble and scorch with third degree burns. When really…that was a foolish fear. You were only looking at them. Like you would look at an opponent; impartial, not bothered, without emotion, fully detached…not Saiya the _person_ , Saiya the _kunoichi_.

Konan glided out of the arena, her enormous stained wings open to their full span and flapping every so often very lazily, like a great bird of prey on the thermals.

She tilted the angle of her wings and began a sleepy, spiral descent. She had not touched the ground by the time you left the stadium. 

“Konan!” You called to her. “Come here!”

She shorted her flight and dropped to the ground beside you, crouching and popping up to her full height immediately, bringing with her the acrid stench of charred paper, blood, and fabric. “Hm?”

“You’re hurt.”  
“That was a risk that I accepted before you did.”  
You smiled bitterly, as there was a rotten taste in your mouth. “Let’s go to your place for a little while. I’ll heal you.”   
“We only have three hours.”

“At the very least that is.” Intervened Pein’s voice. Both of you turned to him. The others were taking their time in coming down off the roof.

“I don’t need three hours.” You told him a bit more sharply than you should’ve.   
“Not to heal Konan, you are right.” He agreed. “However, how much chakra do you have left, Saiya?”  
 _That_ shut you up. Your chakra went fast towards the end. As it stood now, you were at 38%. And it takes an exceedingly long time to regenerate the whole amount, which is 250%..that’s 150% more than a normal shinobi, and normally, a shinobi never has the full chakra amount at their disposal…it is classically 97% that they have at all times because some chakra is always being expended due to various factors. 

“Still working on that.” You mumbled uneasily. “I don’t have to stock chakra too often, so yeah. Little sketchy with that one.” Out of habit you raised a hand to rub the back of your head and pull your hair through your fingers then froze, eyes widening a fraction. Pain riddled your fingers and you swallowed a tormented hiss before it could be heard.

“What’s wrong?” Konan asked you, her eyes moving from where the others were now chatting.  
“Ah, nothing. Nothing at all.” It was best to openly brush it off. It was unnecessary to worry anyone. But Pein was not fooled. He watched you discreetly while you were focused on Konan, whose origami feathers were no longer blackened at the edges. You blinked at her. “You can regenerate? I'd forgotten about that."

“To a point, yes.” She answered and then, a ripple of movement coursed over her entire body. Individual long rectangular shapes began to peel up in all different sizes, making her look like every part of her was made of scales or rectangular feathers composed of origami and indeed she was; then, like she had done with her wings, her damaged skin and hair and even her clothes repaired, replaced with new unspoiled paper. Then the paper shingles melted together, rippling again, reminding you of how Deidara often smoothed flaws out of a clay piece with his thumbs when he took his time.

It would save some trouble for you anyway. You shrugged it off and said to Konan and Pein, “I’m going to wander around for awhile.” And flitted off before either could say anything. Konan turned to Pein. “Something’s not right with her.”

_“I hadn’t noticed.”_ Was his coldly pointed response. 

“Are you going to do something about it?”

“I have eyes on her already.”

Konan frowned and looked over her shoulder towards the others, but everybody was gone off their separate ways for the three hour recess. The crowd had poured out of the stadium stands, parting around Pein and Konan, skirting by them and shooting fearful glances at Konan specifically. 

The fact that she was healed so soon was ominous. And that gray-eyed male beside her with his numerous piercings, though he did not resonate a ferocious aura, exuded a confident, cool, collected and intelligent air that was perfectly unnerving…

_…for anyone._

_With You…_

 

The beach was captured in a scene of unbroken serenity, with the sun blazing above, a smooth, cool breeze, warm tan sand, and the sea lapping and purling at the shore in ceaseless motion. You were sitting on one of the sparse docks that small boats were tethered to, the real harbor was up the shoreline a bit. These closer boats and piers were vacant of human life, and you were watching sharks cut seamlessly through the weightless world beneath those waves, swarming towards bodies that had been tossed into the sea from your jutsu. 

The graceful sharks like waterborne blades held your attention only for as long as you needed to catch your breath from running here so fast. You had to get away from the others. You didn’t know what you were about to see and, damn, you didn’t want to let them see any weakness. Especially when the crowd was about to come outside during the recess, the stands had to be cleaned up and some kunoichi who'd been flung into the boards were going to require medical attention. 

Now yes, you might be invaluable to Akatsuki at this point. But openly displaying weakness would be foolish, and potential enemies would be all over you. Like those sharks sensing human blood and following it through the water to the only women who actually still looked human after the Catfight. They were the lucky ones, having not been burnt alive. Instead they got to drown and be bitten at by carnivorous fish unless they somehow got to the docks before then. Talk about ‘sink or swim’, ‘kill or be killed’. 

You rolled your wide black and red sleeves back, wincing as you moved your fingers, then meticulously stripped your gloves off and squeezed your eyes shut, biting your tongue so hard that blood came up around the hard white edges of your teeth. Your gloves reluctantly came off and some skin came out with them, ripped off over the Wind, Fire, and Shield sigils. Blood was flowing freely over your digits and you stared at them through amethyst eyes slitted against wind and pain. The sigils throbbed and stung already whenever you _didn’t_ try to flex your fingers. But upon moving them the ache quickly rocketed into agony. You had to test your fingers to assess the reasoning for these wounds, but you were pretty sure you knew what this was all about, at least to a point. They were stiff when you tried to bend them, as though nerves had been pinched at length. 

You closed your eyes and tried running chakra through to those bleeding glyphs but you were an idiot for trying; a shield flickered around you like a dying light bulb, the breeze became disturbed in its natural path for a minute, and the wood of that pier you currently sat upon dried from any moisture soaked into its warped boards, beginning to smoke slightly. You cut the flow of chakra and grumbled deep in your throat, exasperated. This was rapidly transforming into a serious problem. It was like trying to walk on a freshly sprained ankle; it didn’t work well, but something _would_ happen, whether you fell on your face or managed to stand with your weight shifted awkwardly. 

Then your eyes fell on your left ring finger. That was the other one you seldom used, mainly only for chakra recovery. The symbol there was not visible at all. You passed chakra to it so it’d glow and reveal itself to you, and when it did, you found you could not really decipher its meaning. It appeared to contain several meanings at once:

Recover, Regenerate, Heal…eh? Siphon? But despite looking like all of these words at once, the harder you stared at it, the more it appeared to read strangely, as if the small lines composing its shape would turn and reconfigure themselves eerily, moving without moving at all. Was it simply 'Regeneration'? Was it anything at all, the pain playing tricks on your eyes?

When you lifted your left hand closer to inspect this bizarre glyph, a hand gripped your wrist and the owner of that hand was wearing a familiar ring. 

“Hidan?” You asked, surprised by him. “What are you doing here?”

He pulled your arm painfully behind your back, your shoulder popping in its joint, and ran his tongue over your knuckles, tasting your blood.

“H-hey! I’m not a lollipop!”

“Shut your fucking mouth.” He snarled, and licked more. He seemed to enjoy the taste and might as well have purred. “Mmmmm....heheheh!” Hidan then let your arm go and drew a retractable lance from within his cloak. You heard the ‘shh-ING!’ and, mmediately alarmed, were on your feet in a flash and looked prepared to defend yourself, too bad if you were bleeding still, but it was congealing on the hand Hidan hadn’t slimed with his tongue. He held an arm out; his black sleeve bunched against the crook of his elbow, and dug the spike into the spot midway up the underside of his forearm, running the tip of that spike downwards to the heel of his hand. Blood drizzled steadily from that slice mark. Hwatched the blood drip and then placed one foot on the puddle of blood before it began to soak between the warped boards of the pier, then began to drag his foot around in an arc of red on damp brown wood. He has to use more and more blood to complete the circle and triangle with how it dripped sluggishly through cracks and soaked a little into the wood, staining it. 

“Hidan. Stop this already.” You tried. But he wasn’t noticeably paying you any mind. You tried to move closer but Hidan’s violet eyes shot up towards your own and he jerked the tip of his bloody lance to the center of his chest. “Don’t you even bother, woman, you’ll fucking regret it.” He warned in a threatening rumble. 

“Hidan if you-“

“I told you to SHUT THE FUCK UP!” He bellowed over the thrashing waves. Out the corner of an eye you spied a lone gray fin flashing up and down between waves, darting in and out of sight too fast to tell if it was a dolphin or a shark. In all probability it was a shark; Hidan’s blood would’ve hit the water under the pier and the girls would be picked clean in the feeding frenzy, those who hadn't escaped that is.

You quieted down, amethyst orbs darting from the shifting water to Hidan’s posture.

“You’re wearing it?”

It took you a moment to realize what he meant. You nodded. 

“Good. This might work after all.” Hidan wrinkled his nose. “Not that I wanna do it but Leader’s orders. Damn. Seriously. I could let you suffer instead. This is such a sin Lord Jashin is gonna kill us both.”

“Ok...ok, so why’d Pein-sensei order you to suck my blood and do your voodoo-thing, hmmmmmmm?”

Hidan eyed you with great annoyance while his skin turned black with white skeletal markings. “C’mere.”

“Oh yes. I’ll be _right_ there.” You snapped. What, did he want you to start walking so he could stab you both through the thigh, only to watch you collapse? For a laugh?

“Shit, fine. I’ll be on my way. Seriously, I told Leader you wouldn’t--“

“Wouldn’t what?”

His smirk was more akin to an amused grimace. “Come here and find out!” As you watched, he cringed and dropped the spike, his fingers twitching finely. You went to him and grabbed his hands, turning them over, wincing in tandem with him. He had the same exact finger injuries that you did.

“What the hell?” You wondered aloud. _Now_ he had your attention.

“FUCK that hurts!” Hidan growled. Although this pain was nothing compared to a good stab in the heart. “Come on, fix it already!”

You stared at his hands for a minute. It was true you couldn’t heal yourself earlier, but that was because you tried to pass chakra to your wounds and convert the nature of it so that it would heal your fingers. And for some reason there was something wrong with your fingers _only_ , not your palms. So you instructed him to hold his hands out and you placed your palms directly over his wounded digits and began to direct the flow of chakra, passing the healing energy into his hurt hands. While the bleeding, broken-open skin of his fingers sealed closed, so did your wounds simultaneously. 

“So mind telling me why I’d need my necklace for this?” You asked him.

“Because you need to wear it at all times—what the hell is wrong with you, woman, you know better than that!” He made to clonk you over the head but you ducked. “I have slain hundreds of women on this day. May Lord Jashin forgive me now for alleviating our pain?” You asked sarcastically.

“Nnnh.” He grunted, and leaned down to pick up his spike, but before he got it, you held a hand open over the spike and concentrated. With a ring of hollow metal, the spike shot upwards parallel into your waiting hand. Hidan straightened up and snatched it from you. But he’d ask. Because he wanted to know now, and that would be a neat trick to be able to do, especially if an opponent disarmed him when he was in the limits of a ritual circle. “What the fuck was that?”

“Something I picked up from Pein-sensei.” You answered with a shrug. “I don’t think he knows I can do it.”

“So how?”

Oh. This is news. Hidan wants to learn something? “In order to do it, Hidan, you’d have to use the Earth element.” You unsheathed your wakizashi and dropped the blade. It hit the pier and rolled through Hidan’s circle, then teetered on the edge of the pier. He could have let you deal with this on your own; so at the very least, you could indulge him this one curiosity. 

“What you do, is focus Earth energy to your hand to generate magnetism, and direct your hand towards the metal object.” The wakizashi dropped and you heard it hit the water. Hidan’s eyes were on the wakizashi now.

You walked over to the edge of the pier and held a hand out over the water. Then you focused and the ‘Earth’ sigil glowed green, and the wakizashi shot up out of the water towards your hand. You caught the handle and flipped it over the back of your hand, then spun it over your fingers six quick revolutions so excess water flew off it before resheathing the weapon. “Try it. You have to will the object to your hand. I’m trying to teach myself to do it without needing to bend my thoughts on it. By the time I finish training on this I will be able to call a metal object to my hand with energy focus only. Be careful though Hidan, the pointy end might come at you first.”

“Tch. Show-off.”

“Try it?”

“We don’t have any fucking time for that!”

“Yes we do!” You protested, exasperated and wishing the subject could be changed. “Come on, we have nearly two and a half hours!”

Hidan was reluctant. He was also still standing in his Jashin diagram, with the taste of your blood lingering in his mouth, a spike in hand, skin blackened with bars of white across it. By all rights you were in no position to disagree with him about anything. And still you’d stand against him since you had a safeguard from dying as long as you had enough chakra. But that supply was far too low, and you still weren't positive on how much chakra you needed to initiate the change upon death. If you had to fight him, you would do what must be done to survive.

“I guess I shouldn’t bother fighting you on that, Hidan.” You assented at last. “Arena isn’t cancelled or anything. I need to gather chakra." And, having severely underestimated how much you would have to acquire, you murmured under your breath, "It’ll take awhile.” 

“I've been hoping you would.” Came a familiar voice. And there you saw Itachi, ambling over from wherever he had been.

“Itachi, how much have you seen?” You demanded warily. 

“It matters not.” Said he, calmly. “I am here to see to it that you collect energy.”

“Aaaaah? You her babysitter?” Hidan sneered. 

“Hidan…” You warned. 

“Little Saiya needs a babysitter!”

“Hidan.”

“Seriously?! HAA-HAHAH! Baby Saiya! That’s so fucking adorable, I could kill you!”

“HIDAN!”

He flipped his lance into the air, caught it underhand and jerked the point towards his heart. “How bout’ it? It’ll be a scream. For Lord Jashin!"

Itachi watched on emotionlessly while Hidan cackled and you paled at the fact that he wasn’t going to listen and you were completely at his mercy. This whole situation was not new to Itachi; Hidan was a barking loony, always would be, but he _never_ failed to act up when one needed him to behave. Pein (and on rare occasions, Kakuzu) were the only ones who could reign him in when necessary. As it is, Itachi didn’t have the best opinion of Hidan, and now it seemed that this crazed cultist nutbag made the woman he was interested in a follower of Jashin. Whoo-fucking-hoo.

“Hidan?” You unsheathed your wakizashi and touched the sharp tip to the area between your breasts, angled towards your beating heart. “Release me or I’ll ghost both of us.”

At this, Itachi closed his eyes lazily and turned his face more towards a new breeze brushing the coastline. To him, this part of the conversation was already over.

“Wha?” Hidan wasn’t laughing anymore. 

You pushed the tip of your wakizashi against the spot, pressing the edge in through the fabric of your shirt and into your skin. A single drop of blood rolled down the edge of the blade. “I don’t bluff.” Your pose was threatening. “My body can withstand the change. But can yours? Do you even know?” Your eyes hardened and you gripped the wakizashi’s handle tighter. “Why don’t we find out.” You dropped a couple ounces more of pressure on the blade and Hidan winced. Blood trickled down from a newly made mark on his chest, directly over his heart. Dark fluid ran down, staining his black and white skin.

“How about it? I brought you back once before, Hidan. But I might not be able to do it after this. Lord Jashin has no love for those of us who die so easily.” You’d read up on the religion a little. In a bookstore. You hadn’t bought the book though. But the whole point of getting involved in Jashinism in the first place was to stay Hidan's hand. It saved your ass once, and it could potentially do so again, but this time with more... _feeling_. If, for whatever reason, the voodoo curse worked in reverse with healing, then it could do the very same thing now with other abilities. But in the end, it was a bluff. You had nothing on him. He might've helped you on orders; but he is just as likely to disobey that directive a heartbeat later.

“Seriously?” Hidan muttered, and closed his eyes, hanging his head. He shook with contained laughter but he stepped out of the Jashin diagram and his skin coloration returned to the normal post-mortem glow. With the threat passed, Itachi decided to snap open the topmost buttons of his cloak and slung his elbow into the sleeve so his hand hung limp out in the open just lower than chest level. His now-open black orbs focused on you. 

“Good.” You said and put the sharp shiny away then turned around to face the ocean. It was rumbling and crashing around at the shore as usual, so energetic, unbound and wild as always. Hm! Now _there’s_ a good idea!

You walked foreword and hopped off the end of the pier, routing chakra to your feet and walking easily on the shifting surface of the ocean. “I think I’ll be here for a little bit! So take off if you’re going to whine about how boring this is!” You called over your shoulder.

Hidan was gone quickly and Itachi hung back to see what you were doing. Your back was to him, and you were focusing on draining energy from the sea around you. He could sense it and after minutes passed, he could actually see that the sea wasn’t tossing around as vigorously as it had. And soon it began to lessen and lessen in activity until it was softly lapping at the beach, like a timid pond, _not_ the mighty sea. Still you continued to stand there, twenty or so minutes later, draining more and more energy from the sea until the fish floated belly up and the more intelligent sea-creatures had fled. Underwater plants died. The sea lay completely motionless now such as a cup of water undisturbed upon a table. As though this body of water was dead itself now, with the current no longer tugging at boats tethered to the docks, resting still as the glass of the arena, undisturbed by anything, including itself.

This was when you came walking back to shore and looked at Itachi. “I was really really thirsty, see?”

He was not exactly amused. “There will likely be repercussions for that.”

“Oh it’s the _sea_ , it won’t stay like that. It’s too big." Such a humongous sea and all its energy in this location was drained up into such a small woman. When considering this matter, Itachi knew it should be more mind-blowing than it was. Yet again, he was impressed by you which is something that has happened twice now to date. 

For a long time you both stood there, looking out over the vast stretch of water that no longer shimmied about in its bed. The sun illuminated the surface in an unbroken sheet, reflecting light out at each angle like a tremendous mirror that dwarfed the makeshift one within the stadium. You squinted in another breeze that echoed out across the new silence. It was a wind that made you think of a lost thing, looking for she whom is his significant other…the cruel mistress was unmoving and dead here, but everywhere else she was vibrant and bustling with life as always. The wind, he made that silver-blue surface ripple pointlessly, ending shortly after the breeze would…echoing the motion of given energy across its blank surface broken only by the remains of corpses. The wind tried to give life to that sea often now and your raven locks blew out into the space behind you like a sheet of black silk hung on a line, and strand wavered horizontally over your eyes, lips and nose. “We still have time.” Itachi said to you, his black eyes trailing from your face to the ends of your hair flying like a flag. His own hair was moving with the disturbed air too, but he would patiently tuck some of this back behind an ear where it would not obediently stay for long.

“So?” You asked, watching him for the moment out the corner of one eye. He looked amazing in the light of day. How would be under slithering moonlight?

“Let’s go somewhere.”

It was hard to comprehend his meanings sometimes. He didn’t always mean to say one thing, but coupled in double meanings, occasionally triple. Or were you over analyzing again?

“Like where?”   
It was equally as hard to make your lips and tongue move. They did not like to part right now. The silence here rang and echoed in your head. It was almost as bad as soap opera music. but Itachi, some way some how was standing there and doing nothing, yet in doing so, was soaking that torment into his self, sparing your sanity without knowledge of it. He deafened the silence rather well by being there, the focal point of your peripheral vision, helping you by being the thing you can focus on rather than the absence of sound. The sea was exacting her revenge by maddening you with her lack of life, and presently, the wind took a rest, a period of mourning. But you were made unstable already. Itachi had noticed this and moved towards you. Once he determined that you were both alone and thus unobserved; he took your shoulders in his hands and made you turn towards him, his unoccupied sleeve hanging limp at his side. His eyes, the two darkest and hardest points on the landscape bore into yours easily, uncovering the glaze of insanity that developed there. You were staring unblinkingly. He shook you and you twitched then closed your eyes and hung your head. This weird disposition that overtook you had a fat lot to do with overall exhaustion, taking in all that energy at once in a matter of twenty minutes finally hit you hard and left you reeling. But it also had to do with your strange unstable state of mind involving specific sounds. You were unusually sensitive to various stimuli, is all. Some people are like that. But that sensitivity was to such an extreme in your case that it sent you into fits of emotion in accordance to the type of sound. Usually it turned to broiling hatred. For now, with the suddenly unnatural silence, Itachi learned, you became a basket case.

He shook you and then noticed you wouldn’t lift your head. He saw the makings of circles beneath your eyes and a frown began to crease his face. Your skin was a little ashy, you were probably overly spent from that jutsu earlier. And he remembered how you had been when Pein and Konan loaded you up on chakra before so you would be forced out of the specter manifestation; you were acting like your muscles were cotton fluff incapable of moving a pinky finger. You recovered fairly well, but you had to lay down.

Itachi would’ve smacked himself if he was one to do such a thing, except he wasn’t. He swept your legs out from beneath you and bounded away from the beach and to the hotel room. The only other place he dared bring you was to the safe house but he decided it best to save face and not risk Konan or anyone else being there. Luckily for you Itachi was also swollen with pride. And were it him in your situation he’d loathe to be seen as you were now. He’d also hate to be seen carried by someone but he had to pick and choose and you appeared to be in no position to decide. Itachi was confident that you’d agree with the option he chose. 

On the way to the hotel, Itachi had barely a single thought over the tournament. Most of the ideas reeling through his skull were, curiously enough, about _you_. 

_’She needs to get well enough to compete in the tournament for today or else we could be disqualified for being short one team member whom they saw to be able-bodied.’  
‘But she_ shouldn’t _participate for the rest of the day. Or tomorrow for that matter. She has to recuperate.’  
‘What if she doesn’t get well though?’  
‘She must. There is no choice.’  
‘Why is there no choice?’  
‘Because I do not want anything to happen to—‘_  
He caught himself. Had he been _worrying_ about you? 

_’What is wrong with me?’_ Itachi thought to himself. He cared for Sasuke a great deal. This is why Sasuke still drew breath today. But for him to love his brother is one thing. To begin to care for…you? To worry after you, to be annoyed with things you did…to FEEL, all because of _you_ , to become sexually frustrated due to _you_? Some woman who he became acquainted with mainly by a pointless fight? And further still, every other girl he encountered was a nuisance. And hell if you weren’t much different; you were a bleeding thorn in his side _now_ , but it wasn’t because you wanted to be. He knew. He knew you’d rather wither on the shore than take help. You’d say in that semi-quiet mumbling way of yours that you were fine. 

Itachi presently sat on the edge of the bed with you laying there, shoes, weapons and all. He was not looking at you. He couldn’t turn his head if he tried right now. And you weren’t moving either. Itachi was watching the windows, staring out across Anarchy to the gargantuan silhouette of the stadium. He would move at last but only to sink gradually lower behind the high collar of his cloak, his back and shoulders slumped in tandem, and he looked more wan than before. Itachi slept last night but his mind was fraught with dreams about a certain someone. One almost turned into a wet dream too. He woke up before that point (literally) and was more than ecstatic that you were asleep and thus blissfully unawares of his state of, ahem, _rather explicit_ discomfort. 

“Hnnn…uuuagh…” 

You were coming around now. Itachi turned to you and frowned slightly. The sounds of the city were wafting up through the windows like a bad odor. But at least it wasn’t unnaturally silent like the sea which was probably recovered by now.

Itachi looked towards you from over the edge of his collar. “Wha? How?” You hastened to sit up and immediately regretted it, a hand slapping to your forehead. You felt dizzy. 

“Ugh.”  
“Be careful.”  
“Yeah.” When the dizziness passed you swung your legs over and the soles of your knee-highs touched the floor with a resolute click. “You could've left me.”

Itachi got up and moved towards the window to look out. Yes, he knew he could’ve left you. But he could not make himself do that. And he was finding himself intolerable for these feelings. For fuck’s SAKE! Uchiha Itachi, the currently undefeated prodigy of Konoha’s Uchiha Clan, feared and respected above most people in the world…was having _feelings_ for someone after years of training spent so he could maintain that flawless poker face of his. It was _infuriating_ how you made it all crumble so quickly around him. Although it did not all occur as fast as it felt.

“Itachi?”  
“…”  
“I know you heard me.”  
“…..” 

You sighed. That’s how he was going to be now? What a way to end all that beautiful progress; with a relapse. Ah, but you were being impatient. He’d come around. You hoped. So you made sure your boots were fastened properly and poked around your own pockets to make sure you hadn’t lost anything. Mainly this was to keep your hands busy; you suspected everything on your person was in its place, and this was true after five minutes of frisking thyself. In the meantime a barrier of ice developed betwixt and between both of you, and you wanted to break it before it grew too thick to bother with.

“How long was I out?”  
“….”

You gave up and tried standing up. You were shaky but managed, and started walking around a little, testing yourself. Itachi turned his head a bit and watched over his shoulder out the corner of one dark eye. You sighed and turned to him after discovering that you were steady enough and recovering properly. If nothing else, you could go back to the stadium now. You left looking perfectly capable, and you'd have to return appearing exactly the same way.  
“If nothing else you should answer _that_ at least, Uchiha.”

Itachi’s visible eye over his shoulder narrowed a bare fraction. His last name stung him like a bee for some reason with the way you said it. And then _that_ realization hit him too; that he never felt that way about someone using his last name before. After he tried to push a barrier or two aside were you becoming distant now? Or beginning to at least?

“We have to leave in fifteen minutes at the latest if we are going to make it there early.”

You blinked at him. At least he talked. “Can we go now?” 

He turned his face back to the window and glanced around Anarchy without moving his head. “If you feel capable.”

“I don’t get it. Why’d you help me?” Maybe you were being just a little thick headed right now, but it was a valid question. After everything that happened between the two of you, after all the progress, all the questions asked and answers given, you should know the response to this one yourself without his say-so.

And as expected, you never got an answer; Itachi leapt out the window and you ran over and stood in his place, hands on the sill, leaning out and looking for him. He bounced over two rooftops before stopping and standing there. He was waiting for you.  
So you wasted no time and followed with a rustle of fabric on wind.

 

_Throughout Anarchy’s Sprawl…_

In the end of the three-hour maintenance period Arena Staff had not come up with a way to fix that giant glass jewel that was now the arena field. But they were beginning to think of it as a good thing too. It was an obstacle now; with its swirled surface rutted into such a deep spiral pattern that if a tall man stood in one of the troughs between two ridges more towards the center, he would not be able to see over the edge. But a person could also see through the blood-streaked ash-flecked interior, and light bent through it, creating a type of sight distortion, making things never appear the same as they are. It was both a good and bad thing.   
But it also was an attraction that was rapidly becoming a claim to fame. Whispers rippled through the crowd and radiated out the stadium doors, into buildings, through doors and windows, hushing through the streets beneath the cover of every other breath. 

Akatsuki. The greatest of us all in Anarchy. They were responsible for something epic that would never be able to move out of the nameless city. It was a permanent fixation and something to be proud of, strange as that might be. 

News quickly reached the ears of Konoha’s representatives.   
They sped towards the colossus that some people whispered was now a bona-fide wonder of the world.

 

_With You…_

It was tiresome and you wish that Catfight had never transpired.

“Can these people shove it already?” You sneered irritably. “I’ve been here listening to their fat mouths for around twenty minutes now and I already heard more than I care to stomach.”

“You and me both.” Konan agreed readily.

“Enough from both of you.” Pein snapped. He wasn’t sick of the rumors and murmurings bouncing around but he certainly was bothered by you and Konan, neither of whom would shut the hell up about this whole ordeal. “It occurred over three hours ago. Be realistic.”

“But it is not a big deal! Why do they keep making it one?!” You countered loudly. Pein almost gave up but refused himself the impulse to hang his head in defeat since you weren’t being reasonable and Konan wasn’t helping at all. Sasori and Kisame were shaking their heads at you, Kisame more in amusement, Sasori doing it out of tight-lipped spite for your reaction. This was no small thing you and Konan had done. It _is_ epic. It _is_ a day of days to be remembered. The stadium was now a testament to power more or less.

And meanwhile Kakuzu was pondering a way to make money off this per usual. There is nothing new there.

Glancing at Konan for the moment Pein remembered what she said about you beginning to realize your own strength. He then mused that you had a long-ass way to go until a firm grip of that understanding. 

Joy.

Right now a few other teams were out there and it was a normal team-versus team deal. However the new landscape made it interesting. There is no one in the world whom is accustomed to such a setting since it is brand new and unique. It was not so surprisingly more dangerous than it looked. 

These fights would’ve otherwise been boring as hell. There wasn’t all that much gore. There was nothing in the way of torture, a very little bit of screaming, mainly it looked like some kind of abbreviated ‘EVERYBODY! LOVE! AND! PEACE!’ sapfest because all these people were pussyfooting around one another’s fragile pride and trying to look self righteous. Somehow the onlookers ate that bullshit up. They needed a dose of softer reality than what Akatsuki had given them. This had piano music as opposed to earlier.

And the moment someone started crying you had to turn away from the field. “I lugged my ass out of bed to see _that_?” You asked your comrades. Hidan grunted something incomprehensible, swore once or twice and continued watching. Deidara ignored you and beside him Sasori was being quiet and also watching. 

“I know. It’s about a half hour of our lives that we will never get back.” Kisame said. “Good riddance to them I say.”

“Yeah.” You agreed readily. “Now what though?” You sat beside Itachi and looked up at Kisame whom towered above you like usual where he stood beside the bench. He noticed that lately Itachi didn’t mind so much if you sat right beside him. As for everyone else he required space and lots of it, being not so much a social animal. This was a curious development, and a little bit amusing as well. If the others didn't catch on yet, they would soon.

“I’m pretty sure these are supposed to be whole-team elimination rounds.” Kisame said.

You snorted. “ _Every_ round is an elimination round.”

“True.” Itachi assented out of the blue. He seldom spoke in public but he wasn’t quite as introverted as he is widely accused of. 

The emcee blared out that the fight was over. But neither of the next teams were Akatsuki. They seemed to want to put you guys off as long as they could for right now considering the debacles of past days. 

Many fights later it was Akatsuki’s turn.   
And you were matched against Clan Risa.

 

“GREAT! Didn’t we steamroll those cocksuckers already?” You groaned. It appeared that your mouth was even less inhibited than usual now that you were back for more, and none too pleased with it.

“Their whole team was not destroyed.” Itachi informed you matter-of-factly. “So they were not out of the running.”

“Oh _please_ , we have this one in the bag, they’re a bunch of incompetent—“

“That was their weakest.” Sasori cut across you. “They’ll be prepared this time.”

“Oh, goody. I hope it isn't another terrific waste of time, then.” You replied acidly. Konan snickered at you when she heard the emcee announce the method of choosing.

“What?”

“So about what you said just now?” Konan said to you.

“Fuck.”

“Yeah. The random method of choosing the groups is by one letter in the alphabet: S. That means only you and Sasori go out there.”

“Fuck!”

“Mhm.”

“…Fuck.”

“Alright come along now, out you go!” Konan shooed you outside, where you continued to mutter ‘fuck fuck fuck’ under your breath. Sasori followed quietly. 

And what were you against? It was hard to tell with how short you are, the glassy landscape blocked Team Risa from view. The antechamber doors were ripped off on both sides since they had melted hinges anyway, and plus, some of the glass had cooled against the bottoms of the doors so that was broken off as well and smoothed out/beveled with a sander so no one tripped and tore their face open on sharp edges. It formed one shallow step up onto the titanic blood jewel that took place of the field. 

“Sasori?”  
“Yes?”  
“Be a love and stay the hell out of my way.”  
“With pleasure.” He didn’t mean it. Too bad you did though. You two might’ve trained together a little while back but that did not mean you formed a strategy as a team. So for now you’d need to either improvise or run in opposite directions. 

Neither of these things were about to happen in their entirety.

You maneuvered smoothly through the gaps between the crests of the great spiral and ignored the reflections that caused bewilderment. This would quickly become a beneficial landscape for you in a manner that no other land had helped before. When you kept pressing onwards eventually you heard a resounding ‘TINNNNGGG!’ of metal on glass. Elsewhere a yelp resounded and a thud, where someone had lost his footing and slipped on the slippery surface. You moved and reflections were thrown everywhere, making whoever struck out against one of these reflections quail and bang his sword against the nearest one. The metal clashed loudly and it echoed harsh against close walls. You watched his reflection shift around, like a spider that has been startled; bracing himself and drawing every limb close to his body, as though afraid one might get torn off. 

“Syuhei!” A woman’s voice wafted from above. “She’s—AAAAAH!“

The lady never got a chance to finish. Four kunai tied to ropes latched around her and hauled her off at lightning speed. It was Sasori no doubt.

_’Aaah. A name.’_ You thought. _’Isn’t she helpful!’_

Syuhei froze and looked around. “Say again?” He ventured.

_’Syyyuuuuheeeei….’_

“What!”

_’You’re alone with me, Syuheeei…you want that don’t you? You want to kill me by yourself. Right Syuuuuhei? To prove yourself right? Don’t you? You do, I know you do~’_

He placed a hand on his forehead. “Stop it. Stop…it…I need…”

_’All you NEED is those two hands Syuhei. Killing is easy, you see. So easy you don’t have to accept help for it~’_ You half-purred into his mind, resisting the urge to snicker. He was utterly confused, not able to understand how he heard a voice in his head, and equally as unable to handle the reflections that slid along every curve, nook and cranny formed by the grand blood-swirled glass jewel that soaked up all the field space. 

_’Come along now, Syuhei. I know you can find me. Come and get me, Syuhei. I’m waiting for you. Syuhei…’_ The last word, his name, echoed wretchedly in his mind.

_’…Syuhei…’_   
_’…Syuhei…’_   
_’…Syuhei…’_   
_’…Syuhei…’_   
_’…Syuhei…’_

His sword clanged jarringly to the ground and he grabbed for his own head, gathering tufts of jet black hair and pulling. Syu’s head was throbbing and he was stricken, trying to rack those same thrumming brains until he got from them what he required; and that is the information he needed to handle genjutsu. He was alone, in a reflective place, unable to discern where exactly you were because he wasn’t in his right mind, you moved silent as a good kunoichi is capable, and also did not speak out loud to him.

_’Syuuuuhei…’_

You crept sideways and every one of your reflections followed along every dramatically curved glass crease and convex or concave expanse. Everywhere he turned he encountered your hypnotic purple eyes in a reflection somewhere and it was driving him insane. Syuhei reached down, fumbling for the handle of his sword, and he finally negotiated a good grip of the object and swung it against one glass wall with a bellow of effort. He did it again and again towards every reflection of you, even if they were obviously not you, being dwarflike in height towards lower parts of the spiral wall, or were too tall, but many of them were the same height, some attributes exaggerated or lessened, other details more as suggestions of their existence than actually being there. In one reflection he turned and screamed, startled at coming in contact with an enormous purple eye, which watched him through the glassy surface with the greatest interest. The world had become strange, he could no longer discern what was real and what was false.

“AAH! GUUUUUH! GRAAH! YAAAH! UAAAH! WAAAAAAH! AAAAAAA-HAAAH!” 

Again and again and again and again he crashed his blade against glass walls. He cracked them, and on the most recent assault managed to put a inch-deep yard-long notch in a wall. He was hemorrhaging both sanity and stamina at that rate. You were waiting for him to collapse. He stopped before that happened though and shouldered the blade, turning towards the direction he believed to be the way towards the outer fringe closest to the wall guarding the audience. You followed him slowly and expectantly like a lioness stalking her prey in tall grass which blends with her fur coat. The clouds of your cloak shifted, red smears against crimson ones in the glass, blending, creating more lies for him to follow.

_’Syuhei.’_

“Not! Listening!” He yelled. 

_’But you_ are, _Syuhei.’_

“LA LA!”

_’Isn’t your own name annoying yet Syuhei?’_ You taunted. 

“Stop trying to use my name against me, you savage cunt!” Oh real cute Syuhei. And stupid. You weren’t merely using his name against him per-se; but it was certainly _one_ catalyst to inducing madness. The rest of it was his own brain which quickly becomes traitorous with the application of an easy-to-work genjutsu, but its simplicity did not negate the impact.

“Aren’t you done yet Saiya?” Came Sasori’s voice from above, floating on a wave of arrogance.   
And there went your nicely crafted genjutsu.

Syuhei’s crazed expression cleared and he stopped running the wrong way.

“Sasori!” You belted out. “Asshole! You killed the whole thing!”

“There’s this one and another left. Let’s not keep them waiting.”

“I’ll make them wait as long as I—“ He twitched his left thumb and swung his right arm out, palm outward and fingers splayed. A puppet flew out in an arc from behind him and came after Syuhei. Syu’s sword came horizontal to the puppet’s midsection but Sasori whipped the puppet, chattering, up into the air above Syuhei’s head and made a fist. Every single panel on the puppet popped open and senbon showered down onto Syuhei, turning him into a pincushion…mainly in the head and shoulders, chest and arms. He wobbled on his strong legs for a moment until gravity took him and Syuhei dropped, dead, his greatsword banging down with him. “None too intelligent I see.” The Puppet Master commented then turned more towards you.

“I see that splitting up is not the way to go.” He snapped coldly while commanding the puppet back to his side. 

“I was fine!” You protested.

“You’ve spent precious minutes on one person while I have now killed three.” 

“Yeah blah blah.” You jumped out of the crevice and landed beside Sasori, then moved around him swiftly making for the other side where you sensed movement. “I told you to step off from the beginning.” You grumbled. “And you said you would.”

“I _implied_ that I would. I never truly agreed.”

You threw your hands up and instead of moving at a reasonable pace (so he could keep up with his puppet), you blurred out of sight at breakneck speed that was unmatched by the greatest share of the ninja populace. Sasori wasn’t one of those who could match his pace to yours. He struggled to keep up now since it was his idea to hurry.

“Come on!” You called, hopping onto the top edge of the spiral and turning to him, waiting, not out of breath whatsoever. “Hurry the hell up! You’re making me wait!” The crowd was a riot of movement and sound as usual but that did not blot out your voice. Before, you had been able to lock Syuhei into a genjutsu that blocked all sound, but now it was all loud and clear. Sasori cursed in his head and pressed on in your general direction. Now you were just getting rude. And fast too. Admittedly he deserved it, but he didn't feel that way. He was _especially_ disinclined to admit anything as you got nastier and nastier. He didn’t need to wait long for that. 

“Come on you, dumb shit! Hurry up already! How many times do I need to repeat myself?!” You ranted then muttered under your breath. "This guy is going to be the death of my sanity.” Then you smirked and cupped your hands around your mouth, drawing in a breath and adding chakra to your vocal chords so you could call out beyond the top of your lungs. Sasori had paused to listen and looked around, alert, sensing a trap. But you got his attention right quick with the next thing that came out of your mouth. Fuck, you got the attention of _everyone in the stadium_.

“KNOW HOW I KNOW YOU’RE GAY? YOU PLAY WITH DOLLIES!”

There was silence.  
Then there was a deafening explosion of mean laughter.

Sasori’s face became nearly as red as his hair and he darted out of sight towards one particular spiral crevice. In the antechamber Deidara stared, aghast, out into the field. A piece of clay dropped out of his limp fingers and plopped on the floor. It sparked but did not explode and nearby him Hidan, Kisame and Tobi roared with laughter. Zetsu turned his (their) head away. Pein and Konan stared at you and then looked at each other as though they saw the ghosts of their fathers, and Itachi watched on with the shadow of a smirk curving his lips. It was gone as soon as it appeared. 

“I can’t say that Sasori didn’t have that one coming.” Konan said to Pein whom she wondered if she could knock over with a feather. His student just shrieked to the world that Sasori is gay because he uses puppets. Holy. Fucking. SHIT.  
But, in a peculiar way, Pein discovered that he couldn't be too upset with you over it. It wasn’t exactly disgraceful to _him_ ; it was directed at Sasori _only_ , and you aren't a child anymore.  
Back on the battlefield Sasori had rushed one person who was a bit more nimble than the man looked. Sasori’s puppet clack-clack-clacked after the guy who zipped around the folds of this landscape easily enough and he went after you instead, chuckling nastily. “C’mere babe. I got somethin’ for ya.” He whispered out to you as though calling an animal, pausing around one of the tips of the spiral and peering up at you. You leapt down with a frown but were nearly intercepted midair by the man’s partner, who coiled every muscle in his body and shot towards you in a flying tackle from where he had been hidden. You unsheathed your katana, empowered it in wind energy and stabbed it into the crystal, by doing this you were able to avoid being hit by a millimeter. An ear-splitting shrieking noise of metal-on-glass rose into the air and made you cringe visibly where you hung by one hand on the handle of that black katana which glowed with a veil of wind chakra. 

You exhaled with relief at the close call and braced a foot against the wall, kicking off lightly and pulling that katana out so you could land. But Sasori had plans apparently. Plans you weren’t likely to approve of. You let out a cry when kunai attached to a rope snared your legs and waist and around one arm and dragged you back while that same puppet gassed the two men to death with purple poisoned smog. 

The kunai with ropes holding you tight had gone through that smog. The emcee rejoiced.

“OH-HO-HO what’s this?! Looks one team is down and now both Akatsuki have turned against each other, folks! Place your bets NOW!”

“What?” Pein had forgotten the moment earlier of hilarity and was ready to head into the Spiral right now. His voice had been low and threatening and made Konan want to take a step away. But she held her ground.

“Bad combination, Pein. They don’t get along well at all.” Konan warned, a hand now on the empty doorjamb. It was impossible to see anything of what was going on from here. Behind her, a certain blond was aghast. “Sasori…” Deidara mouthed, blue eye wide and round with shock. _What are you doing, you idiot? What are you DOING?!_

“There was no choice.” Pein informed Konan, and now he was able to note the edges of a purple smoke cloud expanding from one of the spiral nooks across the stadium.  
“That might be so, but there’s a choice _now_ since the other team is down. If we let this go on much longer we could have a death on our hands."  
Pein closed his eyes and concentrated his Rinnegan, then opened and stared through every ring of grey through the Spiral to you and Sasori, searching for what went wrong. He found that you were tied up in a cloud of poison and he scowled. He knew you were used to liquid poison but not airborne; there was nothing easy that you could do to immunize yourself against it. You’d need a gas chamber for that and you hadn’t been about to set one up. Granted you had a tolerance to it that goes beyond normal people; but it would not protect you much longer. And your other arm was tied up now too, your katana lying just outside of that cloud. You were trying not to breathe in too much, but you had already been tied up for long enough where most would've been knocked out or dead. Your lungs ached deeply, and it was hurting worse and worse as time passed. But it hurt too much to hold your breath in. You gasped and your lungs were immediately flooded with airborne poison. The world began to revolve, and a tunnel closed around your vision.

Pein made a small motion with one hand and gave a very curt, “Move out.” And darted into the field himself. Deidara picked up his clay and the others recovered from their giggle fit. They all followed Pein immediately. 

“What’s this?” The emcee boomed. He didn’t elaborate.

“Sasori!” Deidara yelled. He had gotten onto a clay bird and its wing strokes blasted the stagnant fog away. You didn’t see it happen, having passed out moments ago.

“What the fuck are you playing at?” Kisame demanded, and Pein came to a rest atop one of the spiral rises. Konan was nearby him as usual. 

“Don’t question what you don’t know.” Sasori told them. Outwardly he had calmed but within he continued to rage. His anger had gotten the better of him, and he misjudged the emcee's ability to see what was happening from his observation box up above. Sasori had hoped that it'd be impossible to see how many were still alive and dead with the field's new configuration.

“That’s why we’re here, un.” Deidara pointed out. He hoped Sasori didn’t do or say something stupid. Pein and Itachi are two of the hardest people in the world to lie to. They would see through him if he said something questionable.   
“She got in the way. How was I to know what she was planning?” Sasori said, glancing between everyone, so as to avoid making eye contact with any one person for too long. If he allowed that to happen then it would be blatantly obvious that he’s lying and in all reality got pissed off enough to try and murder you. He tied you up good too; with your arms separate from your body so you couldn’t make a grab for a kunai or anything to attempt escape, and with the ropes as tense and tightly wrapped as they were, you had not been able to move at all against that pressure.

“So how do you explain tying her up, eh smartass?” Kisame’s voice grated, devoid of laughter, filled instead with a razor’s edge of malice. He may have killed his own comrades in the past, in order to do what must be done. But this wasn't the same thing.

“I had to defend myself.” He was having an extremely hard time not smirking. The pieces were falling together all too perfectly now that he started this lie rolling. “Would you have had me deal with it otherwise?” Sasori motioned to the corpses. And no one could say anything to that.

“Nevertheless,” Konan intervened. “We should get her out of here. We’ve won already.”

Before the question could pop out, Pein went forward and scooped you up into his arms with so little as a twitch. He wanted some answers, and he wanted them when you woke up. He took you off the field, the others in tow. They had not been needed but they wanted to know what was going on anyway. It showed good faith amongst team mates, but it was mostly derived from sick curiosity. But it wasn’t necessarily good for Akatsuki’s image, to be seen carrying a woman around. Having for so long maintained a heartless reputation; the hardened criminals have, as of today, become a little softer in the public eye.

It would change.

You were brought to Konan’s place and she and Pein were outside sparring when you woke up, rubbing your forehead. Your wind pipe hurt like you swallowed crushed glass, and your lungs stung badly whenever they flexed to inhale or exhale. You closed your eyes and fell back against the pillow, lying in bed for a second time today after being knocked out and not feeling so hot. What a shitty mental holiday this had turned out to be. You had relaxed a few days and worked your ass off on the others. And not to be forgotten were the long nights where Pein had trained you until you hugged yourself so your arms wouldn’t drop out of their sockets and kept walking so your knees didn’t get a chance to give out from under you. Not that any of that made sense; but that is how it felt.

You shifted around in bed uncomfortably and realized that the reason for your discomfort was that you were wearing _everything_ ; your boots, medic pack and other bags of tricks, senbon holsters, wakizashi, but your katana was propped up beside the bed stand. You were too lethargic to move right now and settled for dealing with the discomfort and laying still, closing your eyes and attempting to clear your mind. The poison was working out of you. Hell, it knocked you down for the count but you could handle it unlike those poor saps whose corpses were probably being thrown in a dumpster right now.

In the distance, behind this house you decided, was where Pein and Konan must be sparring. They weren’t close but were not far away either. Occasionally you’d hear metal clanging on metal in rapid succession which ended shortly thereafter. It was these sounds that triggered remembrance of why you were in this state.

_Sasori you fucker…_   
Hate frothed from the darkest reaches of your soul and permeated your heart. You were on your feet in an instant and out of that house, katana in hand, flashing out of sight through the tall grass and heading for the city itself. Ohhh, Sasori had to pay for that. You’d see that he would. While you had no idea if he had already been punished for his actions in some way you didn’t give a fuck; that rat bastard didn’t deserve to live now and the whole of your entity—mind, body and soul—was hell bent on ripping his soul from his bleeding chest. Sickness twisted in your gut. Adrenaline began to pump and an eerie calm overtook you, relaxing the jitters your frayed nerves delivered, filtered through you, mixing with that unadulterated hatred, galvanizing you. You felt this calm once before. 

Yeah, come to think of it, didn’t you last feel like this when you got to torture Shizune as payback for what she had done to Mai? Eh. Shizune, Sasori, same difference. You snickered to yourself and went to the hotel you stayed at with Itachi. One other person stayed here that would be useful to you. 

Hyuuga. And he was thankfully lingering around his room with nothing to do. He blinked his big, bright Hyuuga eyes at you when he answered the door. “ah, Saiya-sama! I wasn’t expecting you, please come—“

“No,” You interjected. “Please come out. I need your eyes. To find someone again.”

“Oh!” He moved behind the door, slipped on his shoes, grabbed his own bag of tricks and room key and stepped out, locking the door behind him. “Is it Uchiha Itachi again?”

“No. It’s someone I doubt you’ve met before. His name is Sasori. I’ll describe him to you. Lets head to the roof.”

“Okay!” He went upstairs with you and on the way you described Sasori to him. He nodded intermittently and when he had a good mental image said, “I got it. I’ll try my best Saiya-sama.”

“I believe you can do it.” You said to him. “You did it last time. But in this case I want you to give him no warning. You will lead me to him. And we run silent. No one and nothing is to alert him to our presence. Once we get to him, you may leave.”

“Yes Saiya-sama.” He confirmed, and the two of you left. It would take hours of searching. But Hyuuga finally found Sasori inside a decent sized two-floored house that had its ‘for rent’ sign thrown to the side near some bushes. The owners probably had no idea an Akatsuki was staying in there.

“Good work.” You said with a smirk. “You may leave now. I don’t want any witnesses for this next part.”

“Ah, then I will make sure no one is around before I go.” Hyuuga more said than offered and you frowned slightly while heading to the door. “Whatever. If there is anyone else, dispose of them quietly. No witnesses; remember that.”

He nodded and leapt off while you slipped into the house. Sasori was in the living room which was furnished with a couch, a few chairs and a small coffee table between them. He was sitting in the middle of the floor, reloading the senbon ammunition into the puppet he had used earlier. And he appeared not to of noticed that you were there yet too. Which is perfect, since you were trying to conceal your presence as much as possible. 

“Knock knock.”

He nearly leapt out of his skin, or wanted to, but he restrained himself. “What are you doing here?” He demanded.

“I had a question.”  
“You have no right to barge in like that.” He spat.  
“And _you_ had no right to hogtie me and gas me.”  
“You deserved it.” Sasori sneered.  
Your eyes darkened. “I must have been carried out of that stadium in plain sight.”  
“What’s it matter?”  
“You’ve disgraced me Sasori. I can’t fucking believe that you went and did that.”  
“Not before you disgraced _me_. Besides, you should be used to being carried. It happens often.” He hissed, making you smirk.   
“Ahhh, but it would only be a disgrace if you weren’t secure in your manhood…it’s a public fact Sasori. You use puppets. Which are dolls.”  
He got up and started towards you, his expression unreadable but his body language traitorous to his intentions. It looked as though he’d like to strangle you.   
But you were a bit too fast for him and when he came to you, you grabbed him by the throat and pivoted to slam his back against a wall. “Hehheh… _such a good boy!_ …You’ll learn to come to me when summoned, just like that….except without the attitude.” His hazel eyes widened in fury and he made a grab for something at his side but you plunged your wakizashi through his heart and stabbed it in every chamber, multiple times, that thing you had put back into him a long time ago in a ritualistic manner. He was already dead. But for all the self control you _did_ have from years of training you could not stop yourself this once. Your arms were possessed, your legs were locked in place where you stood, amethyst eyes wide and clouded in murder, blood splattering onto your face and clothes, stabbing him so hard that your wrist ached, punching him full of holes, thrusting it in and out nice and hard and relentless like he wanted to do to _you_...stab, stab, stab! And at one point, you shoved that wakizashi in so deep that it jutted into the wall far enough to pin Sasori there where he hung limp, eyes open and staring soullessly at you, his head hanging to the side like a doll. You tried to pull that wakizashi out but your hands were too slicked with blood and you lost patience quickly and began slamming your knuckles into his head relentlessly, almost literally bashing his face in like some cheap child's doll. You wondered if you could pop his head off too, but it was a passing thought that streaked away too fast for anything to be made of it. 

You punched him in the head with both fists, one after the other until you couldn’t do it anymore because your arms ached that badly. So you stumbled to the couch and sunk onto it, chest heaving, staring at the body pinned to the wall whom was Sasori of the Red Sand in life. This was the second time he died. You gave him his life once and now you took it back from him. He was so pretty all mangled up like that, with his ruby red hair hanging messily over his forehead, his eyes open and probably beginning to dry out. For one impulsive moment, seeing blood running over his lower lip, dribbling sluggishly onto the tan carpet, you wanted to kiss him so badly, like how it'd been in the rain that one afternoon. It would be one more step in the direction of what he wished to do with you if you did follow along with that impulse. You had penetrated him. With a different kind of length. You could’ve kissed him and ravaged his mouth, like he wanted to do with your body. His lips were nice and soft. You knew it from experience. They’d taste good lubricated by blood. Your mind was clawing onto the realization that you couldn’t do that rightfully. You only wanted to try it in the sense of mockery, but his brain wasn’t operating in order to process the insult. It was sad. In a sick way, you almost looked forward to him _trying and failing_ to bite your tongue out of your mouth if you kissed him deeply enough while stabbing him, thrusting into him as it were, with a blade instead of anatomy. He would probably try not to groan or cry out in pain too. Wouldn’t that make it all the more pornographic? Just like Sasori had wanted for you. To take you. Rape you. Use and abuse you. 

To make you his doll-bitch.

_’If you could see yourself now, Sasori.’_

Those eyes were starting to bug you. So was the silence. It was approaching sunset outside and the air was cooling. You must’ve sat here neck-deep in your own waning sanity and Sasori’s blood for over an hour now. Reluctantly you got up and went to him and closed his dry eyes with your thumbs after lifting his head with both hands. Now he was asleep, waiting to be awoken again. He hadn't been resting for very long, but he couldn't be left this way, much as you wanted to walk off this property and let the house owners stumble across him.

“Okay then, doll.” You muttered. “I guess it’s time to wake you up after all.” You yanked the off-kilter coffee table into the middle of the room after nudging his puppet aside gingerly (half worried it might shoot at you if you moved it wrong) and then took the wakizashi out of Sasori’s heart and hauled him to the coffee table, dropping him onto it. You cut apart the tattered section of his shirt and saw the many stab wounds and sighed. You certainly had a way of creating some serious work for yourself. And you had to fix his face, too. His nose was broken, both cheek bones were shattered and he was severely bruised.

You placed your hands over his face and began to heal that first, rushing it a bit so you could get to his heart. You next pressed your hands to his chest and concentrated your life energy into him, but midway through, paused and made every single hand seal in existence, then repeated them backwards and did that two more times. Your energy changed to a different color, changing from the putrid black flame of your life energy to an aurora, then, it simmered out completely, the mini aurora flame sucking into his chest and then was gone. His flesh repaired rapidly after that and finally his heart was beating again. He was still very bloody and unconscious, and would only wake up when he was good and ready to. 

“That was not the same Resurrection Jutsu.” Itachi’s voice observed coolly from the threshold into the living room. You looked up at him and sat back on the couch, arms over the back. “It is the jutsu, but altered.”

“How so?”

“I’ll show you when he wakes up, if ya stick around.” Then after a pause, “How long have you been there?”

“Since your Hyuuga servant left.”

You smiled in spite of yourself. “Better you than Pein-sensei.” You got up and stretched out, rolling your shoulders a little, popping some joints. “Aaah…egh, what an ordeal today.”

“Yes.” He agreed.   
“Who brought me out of there?”  
“Leader.”  
“Great.” You had hoped it would be Itachi but didn’t blame him for not carrying you out, plus, he did enough of that. He had his pride and public image to maintain as well, unless such things don't concern him. Itachi ambled towards you and looked down at Sasori from over the edge of his collar, then he began undoing the topmost snap-clips and you turned to him, noticed this, then looked down at yourself. You were not exactly _covered_ in blood but you were splattered with it in many places across your person. 

“I think you need some help Saiya.” Itachi thought aloud.   
“With what, precisely?”  
He waited for a moment, thinking he saw Sasori stir, but it was his imagination. “When you repaired my Sharingan,” He began slowly. “I was able to read your thoughts. Ever since then I can hear them on and off when I concentrate on your mind and nothing else.” 

This was bad news. Now you couldn’t be safe even in your own head but then again, when it comes to Uchiha Itachi, _no one_ is safe in their own head. So welcome to everyone else’s nightmare, sweetheart. 

“And?” The silence was deafening when he wasn’t talking. It hurt a little bit. Itachi’s voice was becoming a source of comfort for you. There was no source of sound in the house, or this area of the slums for that matter. Other fights were going on at the arena, and even the poor wanted a distraction.  
“I like the way your mind works. But your genjutsu is lacking. I saw the whole fight with Sasori through your eyes.”

At this, he could’ve knocked you over with a feather.

“You unlocked telepathy within me. I sensed a hint of telekinesis as well. We should work on these things. It would be greatly to our benefit if we could synch our minds and movements when necessary. It is a rare ability and would offer an edge whenever Leader puts you on my team.”

You could scarcely nod. It was just scary news overall: the ability for him to read your mind. Did that mean you could read his too? You never tried. Telepathy and Telekinesis were two things you never delved into except to trade a few words with Pein mentally. What the hell could you do now? You had no choice. Itachi is the best at genjutsu to your knowledge. He could help you form a barrier in your mind. And while you were thinking, Itachi was nose to nose with you, rubbing a tiny streak of blood off your lower lip before pressing his lips to yours, lifting your chin and tilting his own head at an angle. He kissed you firmer, pulling your body to his as he had in the past so you were nearly flush against him. His tongue stole into your mouth, touching against the tip of yours before gliding over it and grazing your teeth. Your hands found his sides and curled around him, one arm fitting around his lower back, the other more around his middle. This kissing wouldn’t last long though, and just as you both were settling onto the couch, a groan from Sasori severed the moment and your mouths parted. You turned your head to Sasori while Itachi habitually closed his deadly eyes and allowed gravity to take his body back against the crook that is formed by the back of the couch meeting the arm. He placed one arm upon the top, and one on the armrest of the couch, fingers idly adjusting his red-stoned ring. 

“Unnh…” Sasori placed a hand to his temple and sat up with difficulty on the coffee table. “What...ah...” He must have remembered now because his eyes shot open and he turned to look around and found you sitting next to Itachi, who was reclined unconcernedly in the crook of the sofa. Both of you appeared very relaxed at first glance. 

Sasori got up and started for you angrily but you made eye contact with him. “Halt.”  
He stopped in his tracks, uncertainly, and when he couldn’t move, an emotion Sasori never ever experienced flooded through him. 

Fear.

“Sit.”

He stepped back and sat down on the coffee table, facing both of you. You smirked. “Good boy…now, you’re not going to tell anyone of what has transpired here today. As for the arena, you’ll tell them what _actually_ happened: that you had plans for me, saw an opportunity, and in your anger chose to exploit it. So, _Doll_ , how’s it feel now?” You chuckled. “Heh, how’s it feel…to be someone’s puppet?”

Itachi sat up and looked at Sasori who spoke in a low, angry voice, but his facial expression was mostly blank and did not match his tone. “What the hell have you done to me, woman?”

“I did to you what you wanted to do to me, without the sex.” Your smirk grew into a smile. Even to him it appeared creepy with how you smiled serenely and spoke softly of dark happenings. _Evil_ happenings. Something changed from when he saw you enter the living room uninvited. You were overflowing with anger and spite, but now, you were calm. Satiated, even. This wasn't the woman he thought he had an understanding of, or if it was, he was looking at the same woman through another facet. This... _this_ is the kind of woman whom you do not cross. She is wildly different. She moves with vicious speed, acts with purpose and elegance. She speaks with a cultured voice, and strikes with a refined hand.

Why did he not see this 'other side' sooner?

“But there was, however, a great deal of thrusting involved. Into your heart. And now Sasori, you have lost that freedom I gave back to you so long ago. You wanted to rape me, I know that. I also know you wanted me to ‘accidentally’ die so you could turn me into a puppet, yes? Now, once again, _you_ are a puppet. But you no longer hold the strings." Your eyes bore into his, deepening purple drilling into hazel, shutting out his soul word by word, every syllable uttered as another nail in the coffin. "There is not a scroll holding your humanity...not a core containing your heart, there's no way for you to escape into another puppet body...oh yes!" Your low laugh was almost elegant. "I know it _well_." His surprise broke the surface of the impassive face he'd been made to wear. Even to his reaction, your voice hadn't risen an octave. It remained smooth and kind; as subtle, soft poison. Less experienced ears would be deceived. You sunk back, against Itachi's chest. The man you rested against didn't so much as twitch. "So, Sasori, do you understand?"

“Yes.” He agreed automatically and was immediately surprised at himself. He tried to scowl but instead, you made him smile pleasantly. A look you’ve never seen on his face before.  
“There we go, Doll. I've always wondered how you look when you smile. Now go play with your puppets.” You made a ‘shoo, shoo!’ gesture and turned to Itachi. “Please say nothing to anyone about this?”

Itachi closed his eyes again, like he'd done so often recently.  
He made this tiny gesture in agreement.


	26. Shame Shame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The band of shinobi from Konoha analyze their odds, but not for long. The situation transforms into a fight which does not last terribly long. Later on at the end of the day, you and Itachi seem to take another half-step forwards in your relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rhig: Hey all. Wanted to say; yes I am aware that most of the chapter is italicized. It's not intentional. I tried to fix it, sat here scratching my head about that very thing for about a half hour, and no matter what I do to edit it, I apparently am not catching whatever little error it is that's causing this. I managed to fix some of it. If I can ever muster the patience to go weeding through all the HTML tags later, I might, but otherwise the content of the chapter is there, as far as I've seen. At the other place, some words and phrases would never show up, not positive why this is, because alot of them were not things which were particularly offensive, and the story was properly tagged for what it is. As it stands for now, I hate to say it and publish a flawed chapter, but I am simply too tired to spend even more time going through all the hundreds of tags, and I just want whoever is reading this to enjoy the next chapter. I hope the italics don't bother anyone! Thank you very much. ^^

Shame Shame

 

_At the Arena…_

 

Six human shapes stood atop the center crests of the field, which shimmered softly and tossed reflections this way and that against those walls enclosing this crystalline field. There were still severe scorch marks lining the walls like the threads of a screw, slanted and fine black markings intermingled with the brownish-red color of dried blood. The sun was lowering back behind the sea which gradually was humming to itself and swaying to and fro again and playing beneath the wind, batting at the boats and buoys so they bobbled up and down and slapping at the legs of piers. It was comforting that life had returned there, Tenten thought. She alone was up on top of the roof and had yet to come down to the field and join with the team. Her brown eyes stared out across the vista before her and she would blink only when the wind made her eyes dry a fraction. This whole part of the world was still recovering from the calamity that Akatsuki had become. It was a colossal thing; that this patch of sea along the coastline had become still and dead for even a matter of hours, and it was easy to see right now that the sea had acquired energy back from unaffected water, animals were cautiously returning (or so she had observed when she was down on the beach earlier) and the sea was becoming a great mirror that reflected the rich colors of the sky. 

“Teeeen-Teeeeeeen!” Guy bellowed up, funneling his voice through cupped hands. “Come down here!”

Tenten was startled from her thoughts and she smiled faintly as she made her way down to the field, at last landing beside Neji, whose pale eyes were focused on the Glass Swirl he stood upon. At some angles it acquired the colors of the sky too and held them, highlighting each streak of blood and every fleck and clump of ash preserved in the glass. Here and there he could also see distorted shapes that suggested skeletal remains and corpses of women were preserved within, but being heavier than anything else within the glass gem, those remains were settled towards the bottom and easy to overlook. 

“Who did this Guy-sensei?” Lee asked the other man in green and orange. This took all the fun out of Guy’s disposition and compacted his countenance into a serious one. He shook his head, big eyebrows twitching downwards.

“I have heard a name. But I do not know if it’s right.” Neji offered.  
“Who, Neji?” Guy asked solemnly. He half dreaded the answer. He knew instinctively the name Neji was about to utter. But he hoped he was wrong.  
“Gyaku Saiya?”  
Guy’s heart endeavored to sink but he refused to allow it, and steeled himself. He’d fought that woman years ago. And he almost died too. But he had the determination to break through and survive.  
“Ohhh you’ve fought her before Guy-sensei, remember?”  
“Yes! I remember!” He gave a thumbs up and a sparkling grin, then turned his thumb downwards. “And she’s going doooown!”

Ino and Tenten looked at each other then at Guy and his protégé Lee. Shikamaru knelt down and ran a hand over the glassy surface. It was warm to the touch from being in the sun all day; almost hot actually, but cooling now that it was sunset. Akamaru put his nose down and sniffed then sneezed, and poked his floppy-eared head between two of the long curved spikes that rose in the center. In the middle of this, about fifteen feet down, was the only patch of sand left in this arena. It was at the bottom of a spherical chamber which was a curious thing. Kiba walked over and looked down too. “Hey, Shikamaru. What’s this?”

Shika looked blandly at Kiba’s back before straightening up and walking over to him, ignoring the ‘Go Youth! Kill Gyaku Saiya!’ speech that Guy was preaching out to Tenten, Lee, Neji, Ino and Chouji. 

“Its…” Shikamaru tilted his head then looked up at the tall prongs, like a humongous glass version of the kind that holds a gemstone of a ring, only spiraled, like this whole thing. Shikamaru slipped between two of these prongs and hopped down inside, worried that he might skewer himself if he jumped over them instead, and when he landed he realized this spherical depression molded into the glass was only large enough for two people maximum. He ran a hand over the wall, it was smooth and perfectly round down here. The view in here could induce madness and paranoia easily; there were women's remains, bubbles that distorted light, petrified snowflakes of ash and arcs of blood, all fossilized in glass. The light from above bent into traitorous forms, and his reflection watched him from all sides within the bent confines. A black skeleton was pressed close. When he turned his head to look up, he could swear he saw her spindly fingers edge up the side, a silent plea for help.

“Well?” Kiba called down.

“Good question.” He mumbled, and out the corner of his eye, the female skeleton mouthed with him in his reflection, continuing to beckon for assistance out of her prison. Shikamaru did his best to ignore it and inclined his head upwards to see through the hole into the sky. The others had come over to see what was up, their faces ringing the exit, peering down from between towering spires of gleaming glass.  
“One person can’t have done this. It would be at least a two man jutsu.” Neji said. “It affected this area on such a large scale. One person has only so much chakra. And this thing is completely riddled with chakra, besides.”

“Consider also what that jutsu created. You’re standing on it after all.” Shikamaru pointed out, calling up out of the pit. “It would be either wind or fire based, judging from the shape of this thing. Both elements certainly were present.” He turned around and stared at the ribbons of crimson threaded through glass, Shika felt like he was trapped inside a marble, if he could keep on ignoring the spidery black fingers of the skeleton.

“So that doesn’t really explain this here.” Chouji had come over and knocked on one of the prongs. Shikamaru’s brown gaze shot towards his friend for a moment before returning to examining the marbled sphere. “It does, actually.”

“Tell us already?” Ino sniffed. Sometimes she got fed up with Shikamaru’s mood and his nebulous statements which were really snippets of thought. No one here is a mind reader, and none of them could finish his broken comments beyond the mundane.

“Sand melts at a very high temperature.” He leapt up and out, high above the pointed prongs, and he landed behind them, looking around at the burnt walls. “That same temperature is probably more than enough to cremate the human body so the two that performed this jutsu would have to protect themselves. It would be a shield jutsu.” He tried to forget the skeleton preserved in glass, pressing a hand against the shield for aid in the instance of her death. She hadn't been cremated, but then, he could only see part of the skeleton. The rest of it was dissolved into ash. The immediate area surrounding the eye of the storm would need to remain cooler, so that the one channeling the energies of that jutsu wouldn't fry alive, even _with_ a shield.

“So wait, doesn’t that mean there’d be three people instead?” Chouji asked. He was trying to help figure this out and was having difficulties imagining that a two-man cell (rather, two-woman) could do this at all; it would _have_ to be three, right?

“It could’ve been. Except that doesn’t match with the rumors and this is Akatsuki we’re talking about.” Tenten said. “We heard one name in particular so we know that Gyaku Saiya was one of the Akatsuki out here at the time of this jutsu. There was another one with her, her name is Konan I think. The origami angel.” 

“That’s true.” Shikamaru assented. “And we know that Gyaku was the kunoichi responsible for Orochimaru’s death.”

Guy was uncharacteristically quiet. He was remembering events of the past and Lee was both listening to his comrades and observing Guy out the corner of one round, dark eye. He was concerned for his sensei. This mood wasn’t like him at all.

“What’s the temperature that sand melts at?” Chouji asked, a weird sensation sinking in his gut.  
“In this case its hard to say, it would depend on the composition, and this was made with chakra anyhow, so it defies what is normal.” Shikamaru answered. “Either way you look at it whichever of the women from Akatsuki did this can generate heat or flame up to an exceedingly high temperature. Enough to melt sand, and then cool it after with another jutsu; and during this the hot air or fire was being circulated by high velocity winds. If only had been able to see it..."

“That’s…that’s insane!” Kiba exclaimed. “One person can’t do all that can they?”

“We’re talking about Akatsuki here. Anything is possible.” Neji pointed out before Tenten could for probably the third opportunity. “And this jutsu went on for a certain span of time. It would be more believable if it didn’t last long that one person could have pulled it off. But for as long as it was, at such intensity?”

Tenten nodded in agreement with Neji and looked down at the glass beneath her feet. It was still impressive no matter how many times she looked at it. This thing was tremendous and how it had been done was just as incredible, so, why did she feel like they were wasting time here? Analyzing the situation as they were would benefit them. It would help them know the enemy better. But some way, some how, Tenten had crossed the realization already that it mattered not how much they knew about this foe. Anyone who can lock horns with Orochimaru and live to tell the tale is _beyond_ a force to be reckoned with in her book. She got to walking around the pronged spiral in the center, blocking out the voices of her teammates as she went. The very tips glistened and glowed with captured sunlight in their bright shapes. Unless it was her imagination, the chakra within became illuminated in the sunset, and the glass practically felt alive when she brushed the tips of her fingers over its surface once more.

Every so often she lifted her head and caught snippets of conversation and quickly found that they were just going over the same points again and again; she wasn’t missing anything, except Guy-sensei was abnormally silent and Lee was split between conversing with the others and watching the big green guy out the corner of an eye still. Due to that, Lee wasn’t very talkative himself. 

Perhaps not so strangely the others didn’t lament missing the usual proclamations of youth. But without those two familiar, boisterous voices, Tenten felt weirdly disconcerted, like inertia on a ship tossed upon choppy waves. Maybe Guy-sensei felt the same way?

“Guy-sensei!” She called, and walked over to him. “Are you alright? You’ve been so-“

“Gyaku Saiya.” He cut in almost shakily. “She…”

“Both of them fought years ago.” Neji said. “It is only natural that he—“

But he stopped and followed the direction that Guy was pointing in.

Atop the stadium walls was a short figure cloaked in black and red, some of the red being blood splashed over your person. Akamaru barked and growled, fur bristling on the back of his shaggy neck. He hadn’t smelled you because of the direction of the wind. You leapt down from the wall and jumped up onto the Spiral, walking towards them now. “You analyze all the wrong angles.” You drawled. “Come along now, it’s not that hard to figure out. You’re over thinking it.”

“What do you care?” Shikamaru sneered, himself and everyone else at the ready to attack or defend. You glanced around at all of them and your smirk broadened. “Now _that’s_ what I call respect.”

“What the hell do you want?” Kiba demanded. 

“Some peace and quiet. Instead, I find _you_ jokers here. Fancy that!”

“There’s other places you could go.” Ino shot across at you, and you laughed and crossed your arms. “Oh please, but no one is going to want to come here after tournament hours, except us, evidently.” 

“Everyone wants to come here thanks to Akatsuki!” Lee exploded. “You killed all those women!”

“Yes yes, how… _youthful_ of me to do that. Oh well. Many of them weren’t so _youthful_ themselves, so I tossed out some of the trash with those who reached their expiration date, what’s the big deal? Everyone dies sometime. It's merely a matter of how and when.” 

“Don’t give us that!” Ino barked irritably. “You’re a horrible, horrible woman! You devastated your village, murdered hundreds…probably thousands by now, and for what? Huh? FOR WHAT?!” She lurched forth with the intent to hurt you. But never to kill. Ino didn’t seem capable of killing. Adrenaline put spurts of power behind her leg muscles and no one could catch her before she got to you. Every blow she aimed at you was dodged; be it blade, fist or foot.  
“Keep this up, kid, and you’re going to get hurt.” You teased.  
“No! It is you who will get hurt!” Lee had it up past his shiny black hair with you too. He charged and leapt into the air, aiming to drop his heel against your cranium, but you did something you’ve done before: you grabbed Ino and pulled her in the way before Lee could stop himself. Ino twisted to avoid getting hit in the head but Lee’s heel connected with her shoulder and an audible ‘snap!’ emanated from there. She bit her tongue and muffled a scream which turned out high pitched between her set teeth, “MMMPH!”

Lee landed on his opposite foot, and hastened to make sure Ino was ok. You stood off to the side, yawning. “What did I tell you, hm? You just get in the way, kid, that’s how it is, that’s how you are, and a meat shield is all you will ever be. You’re not good for much of anything, are you?”

“Kid?” Kiba growled. “Look whose talking midget!” Akamaru barked and both ran at you. “Fang Over Fang!”

What happened?  
You sidestepped and they plowed painfully into hard glass and remained crumpled into a stunned heap, easy as that, you yawning widely all the while, and then looked around at the others. “Anyone else?” You rubbed a clean patch of sleeve across your eyes. This day really had sapped your stamina out whether you cared to admit it or not.

Needless to say the others learned what proved to be a _humiliatingly easy_ lesson for you to teach them. Chouji wanted a go at you but it wasn’t happening. Shikamaru used his shadow jutsu to stop him until he cooled off. Once he got started, it might be difficult to stop him. These people may not exactly be weaklings, but you were simply in a better frame of mind than they were. They had just traveled a very, very long way, nonstop, and were experiencing difficulties in finding a place to rest their heads. Walking into the nameless city bearing the emblem of the Leaf was a good way to get on the citywide shit list. 

“Are you done now?” Neji asked evenly. Shikamaru and himself were the best at keeping their tempers in check unless pride got into it, or if a friend was in peril. Then the race to get at your jugular was _on_. Shikamaru was already trying to dissemble you in his mind, as is his custom before/during battle. Though with your cloak and presently neutral stance it was a little problematic. Still he knew a thing or two from past reports and experience. Ino still needed to get even with you for how badly you fucked her up awhile ago, and besides it would be nice to get you back for the others at the former Sound Nation. There they had thought you to be alone. But it turned out you weren’t. Shikamaru heard allllllll about that incident, and how certain people were walking and talking again when that shouldn't be the case, as with Hidan and Kakuzu. It was still a mystery how you got into the forest, where Shikamaru had buried Hidan in a hole filled with rubble…the forest which only the Nara clan could pass through freely. Of course that could’ve been nothing more than a faded old legend or curse that had by now lost the final vestiges of its potency. 

Now you were alone. It is hard to get a member of Akatsuki on their own as they travel in pairs and one is never far from the other. He did not detect a second Akatsuki in the vicinity and, upon sending a sidelong glance at Neji, who met his gaze just the same with a tiny nod, Shika was certain: you were completely alone.  
This was such a rare opportunity; one of you, but many of them! It would be stupid to pass this up. To be rid of you after all this time? That would be… _invaluable._ Akatsuki would no longer be considered as ‘invincible’ as they were due to your talents; in particular, your now-infamous Resurrection Jutsu.

But while Shikamaru gestured the others closer to him, and they moved nearer, you were hatching a few evil thoughts of your own. 

_’I’m alone.’_ You thought. _’There’s no one to watch out for this time. No one to hold me back.’  
You grinned behind your collar. _’This could be good.’__

_Across from you Shikamaru had gathered everyone together and began to converse with them in hushed tones, each person covering their mouths with a hand so as to avoid allowing you to read their lips._  
“It’s only one Akatsuki. A medic at that. But do not underestimate her. We made that mistake once and it cost us greatly.” Shikamaru began. “She can transform into a ghost but I don’t think it happens at will. She would've been killed already if it weren’t for that.”  
“That’s strange. She didn’t do that before when I fought her years ago.” Guy said, puzzled. “Actually she didn’t at all appear to have the same abilities she does now.” 

_“That’s an important factor to examine later; but for now let’s face what there is in front of us.” Shika answered._

_“So what else do we know already?” Tenten asked._

_“She’s fast for one thing.” He looked to Lee and Guy at that. “But is she as fast as either of you?”_

_“Nothing overtakes the power of youth!” Lee exclaimed, the depths of his dark eyes aflame with usual passion. Guy was proud for but a moment before sinking back into focus. “Don’t forget she’s as accurate as Tenten with her senbon.” Guy said, being uncharacteristically grave._  
“And has more chakra than anyone I have encountered.” Neji mused darkly.  
“So we need to figure out what causes her ghostlike state so we can make sure it doesn’t happen right?” Kiba asked. He was ruffling Akamaru’s fur soothingly; the animal was no longer stunned but still rather distressed after having been bashed headlong into solid glass. 

_“I’m not sure about that.” Shikamaru admitted. “From what I heard of the report, everybody attacked at once back then. It could’ve been any combination of things that set her off.”  
“This isn’t a lot to go by.” Tenten grumbled. “One wrong move and we have to deal with a ghost immune to any form of damage whatsoever. Great!”_

_"To our knowledge, anyway. Everything and everyone has a weakness." Shikamaru added in, trying to bring in a point of good news._

_“I think we can take her.” Kiba said in a hushed tone as he looked over his shoulder at you. “She’s on her own. Akamaru and I haven’t noticed any other Akatsuki.”  
“Nor have I.” Neji agreed. “We should be able to take her out as long as she remains alone.”_

_You began making handseals and blurred out of sight. Kiba gritted his teeth. “Here we go…” He pulled out a kunai and Akamaru bristled. Tenten took out two scrolls and narrowed her eyes at the silent arena around her, turning her head this way and that, but failed to detect you at all. For that matter so did the others. You seemed invisible.  
At this point Akamaru put his nose to the glassy ground and padded here and there, sniffing at the air intermittently. Neji activated his Byakugan._

_“Is she even here?” Tenten asked.  
“I do not see her.” Neji responded quietly. _

_“And we don’t smell her.” Kiba said as Akamaru whined up at him._  
“She ran?!” Lee was upset at this; he would’ve liked to get back at you for what happened to Guy, who wanted the same thing for himself.  
“It seems that way.” 

_You watched them in shadow. _’Idiots.’__  
Hey, with Pein as your sensei (and boss), you couldn’t run if you wanted to. Besides! Akatsuki don’t _run_. They don’t get even, either.  
No, Akatsuki tear out your intestines and noose you with them instead. And while you didn’t have just that planned, you had other things in mind that could prove even nastier in the end, or messier if nothing else, as is true to your style. Your brutal, sometimes medieval methods of killing were your calling card, if you will. If someone died in an excessively violent storm of carnage then the authorities knew who it was before picking up a bingo book. That's what made the more quiet, refined arts absolutely perfect to use as well. Because everybody on the good side of the law thinks it's beyond you to act out in silence and subtlety.  
“Nevertheless be on your guard.” Shikamaru admonished quietly before everyone raised their voices. “She could come back or may never have left.” 

__’It’s a wonder why no one attempts to teach telepathy in the academies these days; it’d be more beneficial then muttering about their plans out loud.’_ You thought to yourself, funneling some chakra to your ears so as to sharpen hearing, and listened more carefully to the rest of their conversation. _’This is good though. They’re telling me exactly what to look out for.’__  
Now normally you weren’t a fan of standing around until the enemy makes the first move. Though in this case it was wise to hear them out before plowing headlong into danger; it’s a whole group of shinobi from Konoha, not some mutant morons from the Sound. And whether you liked to admit it to yourself or not; Shikamaru WAS the one who defeated Hidan which is not something to sneeze at, so it was best to err on the side of caution. The others had faced Kakuzu and Hidan at the same time and came away with broken bones but lived to tell the tale. Sasuke-fag’s blond boytoy Uzumaki wasn’t here at the moment, but, he was the one you’d concern yourself with the most if he was; you’d revived Kakuzu after all. And he was a _mess_. Never had you seen an individual shattered to such a cellular level before. It was utter overkill; and people say _you_ overdo it all the time. Now while you had only your best guesses as to how that happened to your comrade based on observation of his remains at the time, you liked to think you had no pressing need to know what exactly occurred on the day of his death. Zetsu never got around to answering that question (that is, since you assumed he was nosy enough to watch at the time) and you decided you’d never let a battle against Uzumaki Naruto progress that far where it would call for him to attempt and entirely destroy you beyond repair.  
Feh, not like it’d work for long anyway. 

_Pein was on to something when he devised his plans for you upon taking you under his wing when you were young. He came up with an _almost_ flawless setup for his student. It… _ensured_ …survival. _

_After all, if his plans were to come to fruition, you had to live long enough._

__Meanwhile, At The Hotel…_ _

_A knock came at the door. Itachi twitched out of his meditation in the middle of the bed and closed his eyes again, endeavoring to ignore who it was. They weren’t speaking. Was it someone he knew?_

_There was a way to find out; get up and answer it. But that defeats the purpose of his meditation._  
Itachi rid his mind of any off-track thoughts and then concerned himself with figuring out who was at the door.  
He sensed energy, and several strong but string-like chakra routes to other places. No, it wasn’t seven. He couldn’t specifically count them. But he touched the person’s mind and grasped a name: 

_Nagato Pein._

__-What is it that you want?-__ Itachi inquired within Pein’s head.  
Outside the door, with his fist poised to knock, Pein allowed a smirk to twitch over his pierced lips. How he had _waited_ for this progression in Itachi’s skills. He knew it would happen. It was only a matter of time.  
_/Open the door./_

_Ah, and here it was again: he had to get up, didn’t he?  
But he didn’t intend to get up. Instead, Itachi opened his eyes and stared at the door handle. The lock began to turn slowly, a click, click, click—to the left, and it was unlocked. Then he concentrated on the handle and imagined swinging the door open. The wood shuddered. It groaned. Then it gave, and nudged open by an inch and a half. Pein pushed the door open the rest of the way and strode inside. His ringed eyes took in the contents of this room before he turned to the Uchiha where he sat in the center of the bed. “Saiya?”_

__-I do not know where she went.-_ _

_“It won’t be difficult to find out now.” Pein answered mildly, unperturbed by the Uchiha’s unspoken wish that he leave already unless this visit was of some importance._  
“Try and find her, Itachi.”  
_-You already know where she is.-_ Itachi accused. But he couldn’t pry the information out of Pein’s brain. He had locked it away in the depths of his mind, where only someone skilled in telepathy or genjutsu could reach it. And Itachi wasn’t about to Tsukiyomi the Leader.  
“You know her chakra.” Pein began. “It is very unique.”  
If by ‘unique’ he meant ‘corrupt and undeniably venemous which can also be described as demonic or satanic, then…yeah, unique fit like a glove. 

_Itachi looked Pein in the eye for a few minutes before closing his own and trying to concentrate on finding you. His head was beginning to hurt. He wasn’t too good with this whole telepathy thing yet._

_Then his eyes sprang open.  
“The stadium.” He said aloud. “She is not alone.”_

__With You…_ _

_The situation was rapidly becoming dire. They had slain what seemed like over a hundred clones, and still hadn’t gotten a hold of the real you. Neji was able to find you every time, and now, so was Kiba and Akamaru, but none of these three could actually lay a finger on you, or a blade for that matter._  
Neji slammed a palm against a burnt wall where you’d stood a moment ago, Akamaru snapped at your legs but you were gone before his fangs found so much as the soft spot in your heel, and Kiba was unable to get his kunai past your wakizashi.  
Tenten’s weapons pinged off glass, left dents and scratches, but didn’t get to rip the fabric of your cloak much less draw blood, and Guy and Lee didn’t even get close yet. Chouji, in his ham-handed way, made his arms humongous and swung almost blindly when he thought he had you trapped with the others on all sides of you, and Shikamaru, seeing an opportunity, used his Shadow Sewing jutsu to try and net you. 

_You saw an opportunity as well and darted under Chouji’s huge, club-like arms. Shikamaru wasn’t fast enough to catch you with Shadow Sewing and instead, pierced Chouji’s widened limbs. He screamed, blood squirted and dripped and Shikamaru released the jutsu, quite alarmed and frustrated himself. Although he refused to let the latter show through on his face. Ino hastened to Chouji’s side and her hands went afire with chakra so she could use the Mystic Hands technique to heal him. The bleeding would stem quickly._

_And this rapidly turned out to be more than you bargained for. You already knew what they were trying to do; which is simply capture you unless they could bleed your chakra supply out. Or wear you down. Any of these would be good for them. This wasn’t going so great. Your attention was so split that you couldn’t get into using the jutsus you wanted to try, things you had dreamed up whilst lazing around or eating a meal alone. It might’ve been for the better that you couldn’t: not only would you leave the arena in a smoldering ruin, but if the Leaf ninja survived, you’d be very drained of your chakra and _then_ you’d be up the creek without a boat. If they were actually trying to kill you then this wouldn’t be a problem. But they weren’t. If anything they’d keep you alive but debilitated. It’s been proven that you are --INFINITLY!-- easier to deal with when alive._

_And the worst part is that your chakra supply was beginning to run dangerously low after resurrecting Sasori earlier. Dammit, you wished that you went back to the hotel with Itachi! Then you could be snoozing in peace, slowly generating more energy while he ignored you and meditated._

_What was even worse is that the Konoha team could see pretty well how bad you were wearing down. Your movements got sloppy. You were breathing hard and barely evading them. You were turning from ‘worn down’ to ‘exhausted’. And the enemy was operating under the unspoken agreement not to let you die. With a medic amongst them they could make sure that you stayed alive, if she knew what to do that is. Ino would likely love nothing more than to embarrass you and mock you whenever she got a chance because of what you said to her earlier._

__/You certainly have a way of getting in over your head./_ _

__[Sensei?]_ You asked tiredly, twisting out of the way of a Konoha Whirlwind. _[How long have you been here?]__

__/We arrived just now./_ _

_You paused to counter five different kunai with your wakizashi in five quick movements of your own. _[ 'We’? ]__

__/Less talk./_ Pein admonished lightly, and he leapt down into the fray. He didn’t have a problem getting his own hands dirty. In fact he wouldn’t be here today, having gotten done the things he has if it weren’t for simply being able to dig in when the need arose. _

_Pein landed on the Spiral and the Konoha crew endured a mix of reactions. Guy froze and stared, Shikamaru narrowed his eyes, Neji and Tenten remained mostly calm but the others exploded into many questions all at once. You blurred into sight at Pein’s left side a few feet away. “This is going to be overkill.” You said to him behind your collar and Pein said nothing. He was emotionless already and you took the cue and banished your feelings of exhaustion away. But their eyes weren’t all focused on you and Pein. There was someone else…to the right, but level with where Pein stood._

_“Itachi…” Guy regarded beneath his breath and scowled. “FALL BACK!”_

_You grumbled. Really? _He_ was the only one that worried them? There’s the only Rinnegan wielder right here too, and you as well…and now that you had a moment, you were leeching energy from the earth and any trapped in the crystal. Even the sunlight grew dim in this area, as though the dying rays redirected themselves on purpose to avoid being drained._

_“But—“_

_“Now!!”_

_“Hai!!” They chorused and bounded away._

_Now that they were gone you dropped your poker face. “Agh come on, that’s it? They run from a fight they started?”_

_“They would not have started it if you did not come here.” Pein grated out._

_“It wasn’t on purpose, sensei, I only wanted some peace and quiet and the arena’s closed after the fights now. No training either, I guess.”_

_“It matters not the reason. The moment you saw them you should have left.”_

_You affixed your teacher with an incredulous stare. “You want me to start _running away_? I can’t do that!”_

_“You _WILL_ from now on when alone Saiya.” He snapped, wheeling on you with sharp, frigid Rinnegan pointed straight at you. “You are a medic. That is your first priority unless told otherwise. Am I clear?”_

_You wanted to argue with him. Make a point that you can defend yourself and are more than just a medic. But he was right. You are Akatsuki’s only medic and they cannot afford to lose you. It didn’t matter what kind of abilities you had. Healing is your first priority at all times. So that meant from now on you’d have to deal with sitting on the back lines.  
During your thoughts you weren’t aware of how much your demeanor curved into a slightly hurt, upset one…more like you were slapped in the face than anything, and would get over it, but you shook your head and flitted out of sight. Itachi’s red orbs followed your movement to the rim of the stadium and Pein swallowed a sigh. “Since I hear you both are staying together, I will charge you will keeping an eye on her for now. She may try something reckless. Go now.”_

_Itachi lingered a second longer but went quickly after you. You had barely escaped his senses but he could find out where you were. Apparently you still wanted peace and quiet because now you decided to just go to the hotel, and when he got to you, you were sitting on the edge of the roof._

_“Oh. Hi Itachi.” You greeted dully._

_“This is the path you chose.” He said without greeting. “Do you regret it now?”_

_There was no answer from you for a good sixteen minutes. You were thinking. He didn’t need to touch your mind to see the wheels turning since you weren’t trying to conceal any intentions like one does on the battlefield. “Half and half.”_

_He raised an eyebrow and began to walk around the edge of the roof, eyes scanning the horizon. The Konoha platoon was out there somewhere. And they were probably angling to capture himself and you now. After all, he’s a rogue of the Leaf, and a wanted man in general. Especially by Uzumaki Naruto, who’d like to use him as a lure for Sasuke._

_You realized he wasn’t going to have something to say to ‘half and half’, or at least wouldn’t say anything, and continued. “I like being a medic, don’t get me wrong. There’s plenty I can do that others couldn’t dream of trying. But by the same token, I like to defend myself too. Does Pein-sensei forget that I have my own reputation to uphold as well?” Not to mention honor. That was a big thing. For a kunoichi or ninja to be shamed…you might as well kill them, because they become spit upon and heckled to no end. And it gets worse than that._

_“Only he can answer that. Just remember that you are the only medic we have. While you can fight it is not the best thing to do. Especially if you continue to use large jutsus like the one from before.” Itachi answered wisely. “They drain more chakra than they are worth. This boils down to the fact that your chakra must be used for healing, not fighting, unless instructed otherwise.”_

_“….” There’s nothing to say to that, there was no two ways about what Itachi just said. He was a million percent correct. “Don’t you get sick of being right, Itachi?”_

_There was no response to that. A wind began to blow, the sun was now a uselessly thin orange glow between the mountains and you heard the door on the roof creak on its partially rusted hinges. But it didn’t close. You looked up and saw Itachi waiting in the door, back to you, and figured he wanted you to leave the roof with him. It was getting chilly up here now. You looked back down at the street. Still active as ever. The nameless city doesn’t sleep._

_So you got up and followed Itachi but felt no better about Pein’s demand. No one could kiss it better anyways. Although that’s not what you wanted. Both of you went to the room in silence. Once inside you decided to clean the blood from your cloak. It took awhile and this task felt especially time consuming with no conversation between you and Itachi. He was disturbingly quiet as he is when he has nothing to talk about, and was sitting in the window, listening to the news since you had the television on. The anchor was covering the events of the day. It was nothing you both didn’t know about already._

_After having finished washing the blood off your cloak (it was a wonder that you managed, but certain herbs crushed in water are useful for that), you decided to get in the bathroom and shower. It was satisfying to wash blood away._

_Your didn’t really enjoy it too much though. Instead you stewed over the events of the day and thought of how great it would’ve been to be rid of those brats from Konoha. Alas, even though you, Pein, and Itachi…_

_…You heard the shower door open and warm, lightly muscled arms enfolded you and pulled your back to his front. Those thoughts were gone and replaced by bewilderment. Itachi reached up and turned the water hotter, then rested his chin on your shoulder and kissed the side of your neck once._

_“Itachi?” You asked, opening your eyes in the shower for once, and instead of talking, he turned your head towards his and kissed you full on the mouth. You were blushing a little and knew it, kissing him back, but trying to ignore that both of you were naked and he was pressed against you. But damn. He was a _really really_ good kisser._

_Though you were distracted from the kiss by a sensation of his fingers lighting over your thigh and upwards to your womanhood. You colored a shade brighter and would’ve reprimanded him but it didn’t work. He was kissing your neck few times; whilst you now endured him grazing your folds with the very edges of his short, painted nails before probing his middle finger between them and you froze, staring at the shower wall._

_Itachi smirked against your neck, forcing his finger further and pulling it out, then pushing it in again, sliding it out…you were stuck there, not knowing what to do, utterly helpless to yourself. “Tight.” Came his casual remark. You swallowed helplessly, heat burning in your face and your veins. He was smug. Waaay too smug, because he knew you were so virgin that you hadn’t really done much at all aside from kiss and maybe some type of foreplay in the past when you ‘almost’ lost it._

_‘It’ being your cherry that is, which Itachi decided needed popping. But for now he let you remain intact, sealed up tight as a drum. The fact you were so tense now didn’t help except to make him smirk broader. So easy to torture, he’d enjoy this a great deal more than he thought._

_You were so stuck on this problem that you didn’t know in the least how to retaliate. It’d been so long since you’ve been close to a naked man while being bare yourself.  
It was then that you felt shampoo being poured onto your head and Itachi said, rather coolly, “Wash yourself. You’re stained with Sasori’s blood.”_

_You broke out of thought to look down at yourself and see this to be true. His blood splattered your cloak but your cloak had been open at the time, and some of his blood has seeped through your clothes and stained your skin. Hell, you stabbed him badly enough. You were surprised it wasn’t worse than this and decided to go along with his demand and scrubbed your hair, rinsed the shampoo out, then lathered some conditioner it, let it set. As it was absorbing into your hair, doing what conditioner does, you began to wash your body. But you saw Itachi washing up as well right next to you, and he already had washed his gorgeous self and was working on his hair, eyes squeezed shut with soap suds flowing down over his forehead and over his eyelids. But you didn’t really care about his face right now. It was the rest of him that interested you._

_He wasn’t aroused or anything but once again, you had to stare, as you did before…then tried to peel your eyes away and get back to cleaning up yourself. Although, hot shower sex as a real introduction to intimacy would be nice, the ‘hot’ part was soon to be gone, as the water was cooling now and no adjustment of the knob would reheat it._

_Except that depends which you’re grabbing at, doesn’t it?_

_So you decided that, now that you finished washing your hair out and your skin, you stepped just out of the spray from the showerhead and cranked the knob all the way around to ‘C’._

_“Ah!” Itachi protested involuntarily, and narrowed hard onyx eyes at you from under soaking wet bangs. You snickered and wrung your hair out, then stepped out of the shower and nabbed a towel. But the image of Itachi showering was once again engraved freshly into your mind, and further still was that he nearly finger-banged you, but luckily (or not?) only wanted to torture you. You still couldn’t decide what was worse, and refused to consider that he could’ve easily fucked you right then and there instead of taunting you. There were no real obstacles, and he was easily strong enough to lift you up against the wall and have his way if the urge arose. Thankfully, you can't rape the willing._

_Water was no longer running. You didn’t know how long you were thinking about him, but Itachi was out now, and drying off. You were just putting pajamas on and wrapping your hair in a towel to rid of the excess moisture._

_“That tournament is early as usual isn’t it?” You asked, sitting on the bed._

_“Yes.”_

_You grumbled under your breath and stared at the tv. Was a show with some couple sucking the lips off each other’s faces. Two men at that. Itachi came out and saw this, then turned off the tv by focusing on the button. You smirked. “Practicing?”_

_“ _We_ must practice.”_

_“On what, making babies?”_

_“I would not mind the act, but a baby won't happen.”_

_You heaved a sigh. Bah! Men. “How are your eyes holding up?”_

_Itachi sat down as well. He wasn’t wearing a shirt. Just pants. Your violet eyes roved over him yet again since showering. He was peering at his nails unconcernedly, not at you._

_“They are fine.”_

_“Liar.”_

_“…”_

_“Ahah.”_

_“……”_

_“I’ll check them later. They should be fine until we get back to base later on at the very least. For now I have to conserve chakra or Pein-sensei will have my head on a platter if the enemy doesn’t first.” You tossed the towel and began brushing your hair. It was hard to ignore that Itachi closed his eyes alot more lately, indicating that they were aching again. He hadn't been in too many fights that you were aware of in the tournament, but then again, you didn't stay for all of them._

_“Rest then.” He suggested._

_You continued to look him over and he took notice and made eye contact. Within his eyes was not the usual harshness, but a question._

_“Shame on you.”_

_“For what?” He asked._

_“Poisoning my mind.”_

_He smirked._

_“Shame shame. Bad Itachi, bad." You halfheartedly shook a finger at him. "Night night. Sleep tight. I promise I won’t bite.”_

_He lifted an eyebrow and you set the brush down, got under the covers, and closed your eyes._

__’Won’t bite hard anyway.’_ _

__-I heard that.-_ _

_Ooops._


	27. Nothing As It Seems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some time has passed since the other day, and you have no idea what you are about to be involved in. Pein makes a move to lure the enemy out, by using you as bait, and it would seem that today is just one of those days where you aren't quite yourself.
> 
> Or are you?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _Shame, such a shame_  
>  I think I kind of lost myself again  
> Day, yesterday  
> Really should be leaving but I stay
> 
>  
> 
> _Say, say my name_  
>  I need a little love to ease the pain  
> I need a little love to ease the pain  
> It's easy to remember when it came
> 
>  
> 
> _'Cause it feels like I've been_  
>  I've been here before  
> You are not my savior  
> But I still don't go
> 
>  
> 
> _Feels like something_  
>  That I've done before  
> I could fake it  
> But I still want more
> 
>  
> 
> _Fade, made the fade_  
>  Passion's overrated anyway
> 
>  
> 
> \- 'Dissolved Girl' by Massive Attack
> 
> Rhig: Its not the entire song, but I felt like it agrees with the reader's character quite a lot as of late. Mind you, sometimes I take song meanings to be different than what they might've been intended for. o.o Check it out, Massive Attack is a wonderful band! Also, 'Valley of Sins' by Epica was good to listen to during many parts, in my opinion.

Nothing As It Seems

 

Wind rushed by in a torrent and rain slammed a wall of icy droplets against your cloaked bodies. Kisame had caught up with you and Itachi on the way.

“We’re gonna be late!” Kisame shouted over the noise. Up above, thunder boomed and lightning flashed.

“What? Late?!” You echoed, misunderstanding that you guys weren’t yet, but would be, and lit up the Speed aspect…taking off at a momentum they couldn’t match easily, especially not in this rain, which made rooftops slippery. 

A mist settled over Anarchy. Buildings flashed by your peripheral vision in a smear of browns and grays and streaks of other color. Your ponytail streamed behind you despite that it was water soaked, and your bangs clung to your face, your wide brimmed hat barely doing anything at all with the slant of water from those clouds. It was a storm from the sea and it was intense. You saw lightning lick at antennae atop high buildings. The mist was getting much thicker. You couldn’t hear if Itachi and Kisame were nearby. But Pein was cross with you over the other day, so you didn’t care if they were late; you merely did not wish to be. As it is you had pushed your luck plenty enough. 

You deactivated Speed and braced your footing against the roof you were on, skidding to a halt and almost flying off the end of the roof, pausing to stare around warily. Where were you? The arena had been up ahead and you should’ve reached it by now. But you couldn’t see it. Upon squinting through sheet after sheet of rain and intermittent flashes of lightning you saw nothing more than the houses.

Down below the streets were devoid of life and beginning to flood. Then they did, with jets of water shooting up from storm drains and overflowing, filling the streets up to the roof of this house you were on. It was now that you realized something was very wrong. There was people there before. And the rain and fog wasn’t this bad. The harbor wasn’t near by, there was a lighthouse and it would be operating right now, piercing this veil to offer guidance. 

The rain began to lessen and fog tightened its iron gray grip. Ahead a figure walked into sight on the roof opposite yours.

“Gyaku Saiya.”

You narrowed your eyes in recognition at this voice.

“Uchiha Sasuke. What is the meaning of this?”

Rain had now stopped and you perceived that others were circling around you. Turning your head this way and that, you saw a woman with wild red hair shoved under her hood, glasses splattered with water droplets…a larger fellow behind you who was rather strongly proportioned and seemed almost lost, but not quite. You looked to catch in your peripheral vision off to the side a guy with pale blue hair, purple eyes, and sharp teeth. With an oversized sword resting on his shoulder, and an cocky grin to match, he reminded you of Kisame. Pointy teeth, unruly grin, enormous sword and all. 

“Answer my question Uchiha.” You ordered, now affecting a cold demeanor. 

“I asked you to come with me last time.” Sasuke began. 

“I refused for a reason.” You cut in.

“You _will not_ be refusing this time.”

“Just come quietly and you won’t get hurt.” The guy with blue hair stated, grinning widely. The woman with red hair remained silent. She didn’t seem so sure about this. Her eyes were fixated on you, unmoving, and it was creeping you out a little bit. 

_Such chakra…_ She (Karin) thought to herself, shivering a little bit. 

“I’m not worried about my own health.” You said calmly. “It is all of you who should be concerned.”

“Hah! Listen to this crap.” Blue-hair (Suigetsu) said. “You know who we are? Huh?!”

“The fools who have rushed in?” You drawled. These people were boring you. Instead you were glancing around, thinking. This is a genjutsu. The arena was nowhere to be seen and you remembered hearing a dull roar of voices from it over the rain. That being said; Kisame and Itachi would've caught up long before now. You're fast, but you didn't leave them behind by a stretch of several minutes, either.

Sasuke opened his mouth as if to speak but paused, hard onyx orbs flicking towards Karin, who was alerted. In that instant you kicked off from the roof, flipped backwards in air and landed behind the big guy. He turned quickly and an arm became huge and clublike, skin discoloring, mutating…and swung it towards you. But his arm went through you and there you still stood. Sasuke activated his Sharingan and fixated its red glare at you. Last time he saw your ghost aspect it was because you got killed. But now you were utilizing it freely. 

Karin stepped back, her eyes wide. Sasuke moved closer to her to speak, and she stammered. “Th..this chakra…”

“What is it?” Sasuke asked.

“It’s… _sinister_ …I’ve never felt anything like it!” Coming from the woman who had guarded one of Orochimaru’s facilities, where the large fellow Jugo had been held, that was saying _quite_ a lot. Orochimaru kept a lot of freaks caged up in there. Many of them were experimented on using Jugo’s cells. A lot of horrendous things and people were made or altered in there and Karin ruled that place with an iron hand. She had seen a lot in her days there. Likewise, Sasuke had also seen a lot of things in his travels, both while working for Orochimaru and not. 

They watched you not even try to avoid your assailants; Jugo and Suigetsu. Their attacks continued to go straight through you while you decided to stand there and let them have at it. Neither of the men had a chance to move away by the time a shield of chakra built around you and forced them back in a blinding sphere of light. Suigetsu yelled and was thrown into the water, Jugo was much heavier and didn’t fly as far. He hit the roof and skidded, the back of his head now barely touching the water level with the edge of the roof. His clothes smoked from the touch of pure energy to his person. Suigetsu was a bit disoriented from it, being mostly water based...and you had seen fit to incorporate a touch of lightning to the shield.

Karin stared, as did Sasuke. That was definitely a type of jutsu, no doubt about that. But you never made a handseal to _activate_ it. In and of itself, this was strange.

“Something’s not right about this woman. Her chakra…its as though she’s everywhere and nowhere at once. I can’t pinpoint it.” Karin told Sasuke in scarcely a whisper and adjusted her glasses. “They can’t touch her. But she can hurt them. She didn’t go through the motions to activate her jutsu. I see her in once place, but sense her all over. What is this?!”

“She also hasn’t moved since earlier.” Sasuke plotted quietly, narrowing his red eyes again. Who was it that was captured in a genjutsu: them, or you? How was it possible for it to be _them_ when you didn't see this confrontation coming? It'd been planned to catch you completely off guard, and separate you from your comrades. And nobody had any idea that they were even here, Sasuke went to great pains to be certain of this fact.

“What the fuck?” Suigetsu hissed under his breath in alarm, fingers ringed tightly about the handle of the greatsword. He was standing in the middle of a crowded street with passers-by hiding under umbrellas, hoods and hats. There had been numerous outcries, and innocents avoided the man who randomly appeared out of the sky with his big executioner sword, a monstrosity that looked as if it outweighed his slim body in mass. He turned and glanced around, unsure of his bearings, then spotted a gigantic structure, and realized immediately that he wasn't far off from the others. The arena up ahead was empty, and if necessary, Sasuke mentioned they may have to move the fight there if it got too out of hand. He looked up and jumped back into the fray on the rooftops.  
Sure enough he got to see that where he leapt out of a stream of people, he saw a street-wide stream of water instead.

If this was a genjutsu, it defied the normal boundaries of one. His purple eyes moved to Karin and she looked at Sui, then at Sasuke again as Jugo once again tried to hit you. It continued to prove pointless.

“Sasuke!” Karin cried out suddenly, realizing part of what she was sensing was, indeed, very real.

He looked at her curiously.

“She’s in two places!!”

 

_At The Arena…_

 

“Itachi, Kisame. Did it work?” Konan asked upon seen the pair arrive. Kisame frowned. “She thought she was late and ran ahead of us. We lost her in the fog.”

“Perfect.”

Pein was walking over now. He looked to of been waiting for this to happen and wasn’t surprised in the slightest. 

“They fell for it.” Konan said to him over her shoulder. “Your plan worked perfectly.”

Pein said nothing to this, but Kisame half expected him to be smug and say ‘of course it did’. He did not. Instead he looked to Itachi and Kisame. “A newly formed group named as ‘Team Hebi’ has come to be a thorn in my side.” He said. “We will eliminate them.”

“You used Saiya as _bait_ , un?” Deidara was incredulous, staring at the leader disbelievingly. This is amazing to him, considering that he just hung his own student on a hook and tossed her into the open.

“In short, yes.” He answered calmly. He looked around and the rest of Akatsuki came out of the shelter of the arena’s empty entry hall. There was no matches all week; instead there was a festival heralding the end of the tournament. After the festival was the final. This was a time of rest of the surviving contenders so the last fights were also hopefully the most epic.

Deidara was watching Sasori, who had been a little off lately. Something wasn’t quite right about him these days. He seemed more like a puppet once again as he had been in the past; emotionless and stiff-backed. Hidan was nearby grumbling to Kakuzu about how this was way too _fucking_ much trouble, while Kakuzu disagreed. “I can make quite a bit of money off turning them in.” He said calmly. “There is already a contact point nearby.”

“It better not smell like that nasty piss hole.” Hidan griped and jumped onto a roof after seeing the others go. 

“Why do all of us have to go for this, un?” Deidara asked Konan, who smiled. “Because you’re all here anyway so might as well put you lazy men to work?”

Deidara sweatdropped. “I knew this mental holiday thing was too good to be true, hnn.”

 

“We will be facing Jugo, Suigetsu, Karin, and Itachi’s brother.” Konan informed Deidara. “Whatever you do, don't underestimate them.”

 

Itachi had moved closest to the mist already but no one noticed him. This fog was particularly dense there where you were facing off against the enemy, who were all convening. It didn’t matter what they tried to do. You were literally untouchable.

That’s how it is when you’re in a person’s genjutsu. To Itachi, everyone was standing there, doing nothing. You were nowhere to be seen. 

Before Itachi went within the fog he halted and the others did as well. They all sensed it.

 

_In The Fog…_

Suigetsu had spoken to Karin on what she sensed. And he was mighty confused. 

“Two places? This is some weird clone?” He turned towards you, quirking a brow. You were fending Jugo off only on occasion, using taijutsu, no weapons though.

“No. It’s as though she is literally two people at this moment. But the second one is weaker.”

“Where?”

Karin pointed through the fog and Suigetsu tightened his grip on the sword, then charged. You watched him out the corner of an eye and saw him flash by you and delve through the fog, but he yelled and fell into the street again.

As before, people protested, screamed and avoided Suigetsu. One man got knocked down, but didn’t retaliate because Suigetsu was already gone from the street and back onto the rooftops. 

He looked everywhere but did not find this ‘second Saiya’. She was nowhere to be found and he was now, ironically, lost in the mist. And the next time he dropped down onto the streets, thinking that you were there as well, he fell into a lane that was empty except for people in red-clouded cloaks. He stared around at them and his face shaped into a grotesque show of pointed teeth (which was him grinning), then gripped Zabuza’s executioner sword and shouldered it once more. 

“Oh, you have that kid’s sword.” Kisame said, chuckling. 

“Zabuza-sempai is not some kid!”

“Was.” Kisame corrected.

“Kisame, see that he does not interfere.” Pein instructed then left with the others.

“With pleasure.” Kisame agreed, grinning across from Suigetsu. It would be a great diversion for him to fight this guy wielding one of the Seven Swordsmen’s blades. A throwback to the past, even!

But now was the time when they would all intervene. Except Akatsuki wasn’t the only gang in town planning on taking control of this fight. On the opposite side of this sphere of fog was the platoon from Konoha. Neji was crouched atop an unused chimney, Byakugan activated, and was staring intently into the fog.

“Chakra is everywhere in there. I cannot tell who it belongs to. There is four people present within it. A fifth has left.” He reported to the team, and Shikamaru prodded for more information.

“Everywhere you say? How so?”

“The chakra is not the fog itself, but is everywhere within it. I’ve seen something like this only once. Its very dark in nature and seems to be clinging to the three people standing on each side of one in the middle...ah.” He grimaced. “Gyaku Saiya, as predicted.”

“Clinging to them, eh?” Shikamaru mused, his eyes darkening. _'That’s never a good thing. Until we know what’s going on exactly we can’t set foot in that zone.'_

“Is it Gyaku’s chakra?” Ino asked.

After a moment of studying Neji shrugged. “It seems as though she isn’t exerting chakra of her own, but manipulating the free energy in the air around her and the others, changing it into a form of her own chakra. They’re all very still. I think they are trapped in a genjutsu.”

“I bet that has to do with the chakra floating around. A genjutsu is probably being used as a diversion.” Kiba surmised.

“Unlikely.” Neji said. “She seems to be trapped in it too. That means she isn’t the one who shaped it. The genjutsu is from one of the three and I can’t identify who they are. There’s too much chakra swarming around them, the middle man in particular.” He didn't want to say it, but he had seen Sasuke around this place, but it was only a fleeting glimpse. He hadn't been positive of it, and there was no way to know if it was their former comrade you were fighting, or somebody else they knew nothing about. Bringing out Sasuke's name would have the same effect as dropping a bomb: no one would dare leave this spot, maybe they would even plow in headlong in a mad bid to prevent Sasuke from being damaged irreparably by the enemy. Naruto is a dear friend to all of them, had saved all their lives time and time again, and they owed him this much; to try and help save Sasuke. But opinions had become conflicted. There were those who felt they needed to _end_ Sasuke instead, as he had become a nexus of tremendous pain and suffering. So, before they borrowed more trouble, Neji cast his sight here and there to find an alternate path. He needed to put some distance between this rooftop and the group, at least to buy a few extra minutes to think of what he'd do if he truly came face-to-face with Sasuke, the avenger who forsook his home and childhood friends.

“Too dense?” Shikamaru asked, disturbing Neji's thoughts. “Fuck, we need to get out of here.”

“But we came here to put an end to all this didn’t we?” Ino protested. “We can’t keep running away!”

“ _Tactical_ withdrawal, Ino.” Shikamaru grumbled. “I don’t like it either but we have no choice. A person only shapes a jutsu like this in a dire situation.”

Neji’s frown deepened, and he contained his relief at having found an alternate path. He was looking past the fog now. “Gyaku’s energy is coming from elsewhere as well.”

“That’s the way to go. Lead the way Neji.” Guy instructed, and the Hyuga nodded and led the way.

They darted over more rooftops and found themselves soon facing none other than Sasori, who was stationed where he could be of use if the situation happened to go badly pear-shaped. Neji saw within him a spark of that same black energy marked as your own. His eyes widened. But he said nothing.

Yet Sasori didn’t need anyone to speak to alert him to what he knew Neji was staring at; the very place where you forced a flame of chakra into his chest after killing him. It made him your puppet. Neji was almost aghast at what that chakra was doing to Sasori’s inner workings; slowly putrefying his chakra supply, gateway by gateway. 

A low growl arose from Sasori’s throat and with a snap of the wrist, a scroll dropped into his hand. He unrolled part of it and a BANG later, a puppet was in sight. 

_Damned Hyuga. He knows already!_ Sasori thought furiously. There was within him, borne from you, a motivation that made him desire that no one found out. This was a disgraceful secret never to be discovered. He would make sure that no one knew. And it might cost him quite a lot. But Sasori knew you’d come back to him. You’d save him again, if things got out of hand and his body became trashed to the point of uselessness. You’d do it because you had to.  
Sasori’s attacks became concentrated on Neji, and the others pitched in as well. They aimed both for the puppet and the puppet master. Sasori would have been made to take out his old favorite again but the rain was causing problems. Rain was washing poison out of this puppet already, he could only make them so watertight with what he had available. He was outnumbered and before he could manage what he must do, a many pronged attack hit Sasori. 

In his place, sand poured to the ground, becoming moistened by rapidly falling water. Neji spun and formed his chakra shield in time to stop another attack from hitting him, And Lee leapt above the shield, charging at Sasori, who controlled his puppet with one hand and had a handful of senbon in the other hand.  
No one, not even Sasori, heard the flapping of clay wings over a cloudburst though.

“KATSU!” 

A string of explosions filled the air, heating rain, making the closest drops sizzle and evaporate when they hit skin. Ino and Tenten were closest, they screamed in pain. By now people on the street were looking around in bewilderment. Shikamaru was going through the motions of his shadow jutsu, Guy was aiming to break Sasori’s puppet whilst Lee went for Sasori himself. Or they would have. The next thing that happened was absolutely uncalled for.

Another explosion went off and Guy and Lee both went bug eyed and unleashed howls of intense agony to the sky. Blood rushed from the stumps of their legs, pouring onto roofing, mixing with the sheaf of water coating the roofing, and becoming diluted as it poured down every groove on the slant.  
Deidara smiled to himself. His clay insects were a success. He had attached two to each of those men’s knees and ankles. Their legs and feet were blown to clumps of meat and bone sitting on the roof side and while Lee managed to grip the shingles, Guy wasn’t able. He tumbled off the roof and thudded into the middle of a bustling street. Screams rose up at the sight of a man clad in green, oozing red, pressed into the mud…his legs reduces to nothing but severed thighs. 

Ino covered her mouth with both hands, eyes wide, and screeched bloody murder. Sasori leapt up onto Deidara’s flying bird sculpture and his puppet was already gone back into its scroll. Lee lifted his head up and with shaking, numb hands, tried to brace his palms on the roof and stand up but he fell with a shout. He didn’t know what happened, his ears were ringing and everyone’s mouths were opening and closing but nothing came out. Sight was blurring. Images bled together into a dreary mass. Then, he passed out, his blood running thick and fast into the roof gutters, pouring out onto the street below amidst rainwater.

Guy was basically in the same boat except for him, people clustered around in a riot of colorful raincoats, crouching down to see who he was, did they recognize him? From the tournament, at least? No, they did not. Its hard to tell the difference between faces when each one is ordinarily covered in blood.

“GUY!” Shikamaru yelled and landed next to him. Ino was watching over Lee with Tenten and Kiba, who had been fighting with a second one of Sasori’s puppets for awhile there, until the Puppet Master vanished away with Deidara. Akamaru and he were lucky. In a weird way, they had been spared. The ladies just hadn’t posed as much of a threat for Deidara to try and blow _their_ legs off too, and Kiba had been barely far enough away not to merit being an immediate danger. Mainly he wanted to take away the greatest weapon of Konoha’s Green Beast; Taijutsu. He can’t fight properly if he doesn’t have legs to walk on. There were only two people around who could completely restore lost body parts and Akatsuki kept both of them, at least, as far as most people knew.

But it would never stop Might Guy or Rock Lee from their determination. They would fight even if all they had left was half a brain, the spinal chord, and their left pinky fingers.

“The Hyuuga must die.” Sasori informed Deidara quite flatly, devoid of any tone that would discern him as ‘human’. Dei wrinkled his face and the bird continued to fly higher. “Some time, yeah.”

“I mean _now_ Deidara.”

“What’s it to you, nn?”

“….”

Deidara was looking at Sasori, wondering why he refused to make eye contact, then turned away and swiped his soaking wet hair away from his face, staring down at the fog they soared above. He fruitlessly wiped beads of water away from the lens of his monocular implant. “We need to get out of here, un.”

“Deidara!” Sasori protested angrily, showing the first bit of emotion he has since resurrected. But before he could jump off, the bird flew too high and not a moment too soon.

There was a deafening bang, the area went alight with a blinding white explosion, and splintered wood flew like shrapnel into the air. They were high enough to avoid it. A body was thrown, spinning a half rotation, and landed hard against its right shoulder, skidding a few feet before coming to a rest. It was a relatively large man, and not far away, a young woman with startlingly red hair was slammed into the side of a house, her skin riddled with burns.

A third person had moved up and out in time, strange hand-like wings outstretched. He floated to tread the air and glare down his chest at the space below, where you stood translucent, then solidified and looked up at him from under the brim of your hat with a hidden scowl at the realization it didn’t work like you intended it to. But for now at least, the other two had been taken out of commission. For how long? You didn’t intend to let this waste on long enough to discover an answer.

Sasuke landed and the huge taloned fingers furled together, in the manner of a creature folding its wings to its back. Your eyes darkened whilst you took in his every detail; and not in a good way. He had changed for the first time in front of you, with a black four pointed star splotched over his nose, his skin had taken a grayish pallor, and his lips discolored as well as the whites of his eyes turning black. His hair was thicker than before; untamable by a comb and bluish or purple- difficult to tell when it was sopping wet.  
“Disgusting.” When you said it, this word came out more as an emotionless observation than anything else.

“You will come with us, Gyaku Saiya.” Sasuke ordered for perhaps the thousandth time.

“I’d sooner become one of Sasori’s puppets before I assist you, _hebi-teme_.” 

In the illusions between your minds; Sasuke and you had engaged in battle. He summoned white snakes on a few occasions. And this was a cause for minor alarm, but for now, you had to put those worries on the back burner.

Sasuke smirked. “Then I’ll have to take Sasori as well.”

You didn’t let him get to you and glanced over your shoulder when more people appeared. It was Inuzuka Kiba astride Akamaru, and Hyuuga Neji with them. You were the target. With Tenten and Ino tending to Guy and Lee, who they just helped transport to a safe place (for now) in Anarchy, they would be able to deal with you for now. Gai had once said that you were proficient with genjutsu, therefore, ‘Treat Gyaku as though you were fighting Uchiha Itachi. Watch her legs. Not her eyes or hands.’

Not too far away out of sight, Konan heaved a sigh. “Saiya is far too good at getting herself in trouble.”

“Tch. Some medic.” Hidan snorted. 

“It was not her fault this time.” Itachi said, his tone clipped. 

“We can talk about it later.” Konan said. “For now keep an eye on her.” She looked at Pein, who turned his head to Kakuzu and then Hidan. Itachi would not be sent in unless need be, and Deidara was up above with Sasori in case the need arose for them to intervene as added support. But with how resolved he sensed you were, Pein knew that it probably wouldn’t get to you needing help at all.

Especially since, through meditation and more training, you had learned to control the Ghost Aspect.

“Kakuzu. Hidan. If this gets out of hand, you know what to do.”

Kakuzu nodded once and Hidan grumbled low in his throat. Undeniably the three of you were best suited as a team. Unlike with the others, apart from Konan, time had been taken to form a sound strategy to be applied where necessary.

“Why do we all have to stay here and watch?” Hidan rumbled.

“Because believe it or not this is important.” Konan answered patiently.

_With You…_

 

You were surrounded and still calm. On one side, Sasuke, and potentially his goon squad if they could still so much as twitch, but the girl anyway looked pretty much shot. And you didn’t know where the blue haired twit ran off to but there was no telling when he’d make a comeback. 

And then there’s Kiba and his mutt, plus Neji. 

There was now no time to stand and think because those two were after you _and_ Sasuke. Those two and the dog were the only ones allied until Sasuke’s friends crawled back into the fray. 

Akamaru ‘poofed’ into a clone of Kiba and the both ran forth. You were in the way and instead of moving, changed the nature of all your cells to translucent, then turned to focus on the remaining Hyuuga while those two literally ran straight through you and sped towards Sasuke. Hyuuga struck up a stance, a flat palm outwards. His Byakugan was still active. You could see the veins pumping extra blood to his eyes as they pressed up under his skin. 

You solidified and took up the Speed aspect for a moment, charging him and knocking him off the roof. He managed to shift his weight midair, grab the edge of the roof, and swing back over your head to land on his feet. He barely touched down before shooting back at you. You pivoted out of the way and watched him plunge into the milling street, hitting against the wall of that building across from this one. The wall splintered inwards from force of the hit and you meanwhile charged Strength into a fist and used Speed to charge him again, this time the ground shook with impact and the roof of said building was now supported by only two and a half walls. People within screamed and backed away, cussing you out, and Neji Hyuuga collected himself. He struck out at you with mostly flat palms, aiming for the chakra pores. You went invisible before he hit you and felt his palm, even as a ghost. The Hyuuga clan specializes in rendering a person unable to draw on their chakra. So as pure chakra right now, you felt it, but nothing really happened. In a distant place, it stung a bit. 

But there was one thing that _really_ bothered you.

His eyes were still tracking any movement you made while everyone else couldn’t see you, and now, Neji followed you but kept a distance as he considered what he could do to force you back into solid form. 

_’Those eyes are a problem.’_ You thought. But you could come up with perhaps the most simple way to do away with this issue. It wasn’t much. But it was going to be effective and there were no doubts in your mind that it would work.

As he continued to think how to protect against you when not solid, you did it yourself without him needing to think far; solidifying and unsheathing both the katana and wakizashi, spinning each over your fingers several revolutions before stilling them and preparing to fight. Hyuuga covered his hands with chakra and would, with this, be able to block a blade. This is not what you aimed for.

He should’ve realized what this meant, but he wasn’t considering that you could change the cells of an item as well as your own. But you were able to change your clothes as well, weren’t you? The two blades would go with you when you became a ghost.

And they did. Neji paled and barely evaded the sharp, translucent edges that swung at him through moist air. He was on the defense instantly. One near-miss gave him a nasty gash down the back of his right forearm. 

“GAAH!” He gritted his teeth and somersaulted away, landing a few inches away from the edge of this roof. Nearby, Kiba and Akamaru were –barely- surviving against Sasuke. He looked more to be stalling for time and keeping the Uchiha occupied. Either he was waiting for Neji or someone else.

The ‘someone else’ turned out to be Shikamaru, who used his Shadow Sewing on Sasuke and immobilized him for now. But how long could he hold it, you wondered? Either way you had to worry about your current foe. Neji was still on the defensive. 

 

 _-Stop playing and do it.-_ Pein sneered coldly in your mind, and you smirked from behind your transluscent collar. This ghost shape was different; it looked just like you when you were solid. The other bandaged form occurred only when you actually died. The bandages were a symbol of healing, and the blood stains marked what needed to be healed.

Neji was proving to be a bit more difficult to fool. Ever since he was cut he knew to keep away. So you did something you had before. He needed to see you to avoid you, did he not? Now, utilizing the fog in the area, you spread a great deal of your chakra out once again and to the Byakugan…you were no longer visible. 

Neji was almost completely blinded in that moment. The chakra, all around him, was so dense that it was too bright. A single droplet of blood welled at the corner of each eye from the strain of trying to keep Byakugan active. Without it he couldn’t see you. But with it, he could see nothing but chakra all over the place. He closed his eyes and deactivated them, but when he opened them, the fog was just as impenetrable to his normal eyes. In a last ditch attempt he began to spin. “Kaiten!!”

The shield of his chakra was not there a second too soon. Ghost swords clanged harshly against the shield and he heard it, and tried to spin as long as he could. Hopefully the rotation would blast some fog away. But it didn’t. This fog was made of chakra and as he forced the duration of his ability out as long as humanely possible, the chakra fog became attracted to his shield, like dust to water. It clung to the shield and exploded.

He was not thrown any which way but was dropped through the roof of the house since that one circle of roof no longer had the rest of the roof to support it. He hit the floor of a little girls room. The child in her playpen howled in high pitched discontent as little children do at the drop of a hat. 

She went silent and whimpered uncontrollably when you appeared behind Neji as he tried to pull himself out from underneath some debris that he hit the floor before it did. His bleeding eyes squinted open and focused on the child right across from him. She was having a tantrum in her fright; hammering small fists against the playpen gate and yelling. "MOMMA! MOMMAAAAA!!!”

There was a heavy piece of wood against the door and he had a feeling that the woman on the other side, now trying to push the door open frantically, wasn’t going to get in any time soon. But it was better that way. He redoubled his efforts to get up but let out a bellow of pain. Warm fluid dampened the cloth of his pants. He was bleeding badly, and couldn’t move with all this lumber piled on his back and legs. 

He strained to look back over his shoulder at the rubble and see if he could tell what exactly was piercing into his legs, but he couldn’t see a thing except a mass of wet black shingles and broken wood planks. He turned his head to look in front of him when a shadow fell, and there you stood, and gripped his hair and pulled his head back. 

The last thing Neji Hyuuga saw was a gleaming line of dark metal leveling across his line of sight…then darkness, and agony. He screamed and slapped his hand over his sliced eyeballs and cut bridge of his nose. Vitreous humor was oozing out where his eyes were cut, intermingling with blood and rain water. 

Neji’s outcry was heard up above where part of this bulding’s roof was still in tact and Shikamaru’s eyes widened, as did Kiba’s and Akamaru turned back in distraction to stare at the hole their childhood friend had fallen through. Even Sasuke gave pause.

Back inside, the little girl was gripping her gate and crying very hard. Her tears fell thick and fast as Neji’s life essence. He was maimed and laying in a widening pool of his own blood, still pinned by the snapped roofing beams. You turned and faced the little girl with your katana in hand, its edge rimmed thinly with Neji’s blood. 

_-No survivors.-_ A familiar voice entered into your head. It was Pein. His message did not require clarification. You moved forth and with a twist of the wrist, the katana had severed the girl’s head from her body. Your violet eyes were overshadowed and emotionless. Maybe Sasori wasn’t the puppet this time. After all…you had once said you would not disobey Pein.

“You’ve been trained very well.” 

Behind you, it was Sasuke standing atop the rubble. You didn’t know who he was addressing because Neji was still alive. You turned and affixed the younger Uchiha with the same dead purple eyes. He returned it in kind with a glimmer of fearless onyx in shadow. You didn’t know when he had finished with his own opponents. Perhaps it was just now.

“I understand _better_ why so many want you now, Gyaku Saiya.”

“How’s that exactly?” You asked quietly, barely audible over the rainfall. 

“You have nearly become an excellent weapon.”

You continued to stare at him like a corpse stares at the wall when its lids have yet to be closed by someone who dislikes doll eyes. 

“And yet, I was wrong. Now is not the time.” Sasuke said at last and turned away. “You aren’t ready yet.”  
He vanished from sight and you watched the spot he stood for a minute longer. Neji was twitching and unable to control it. He was dying slowly, bleeding like a stuck pig. You couldn’t stop a heartless grin from tangling your lips into the expression of a mad woman. The way his blood disgorged onto the wreckage and splintered floorboards reminded you of the corpse of your brother, with his slit throat, swinging in the yard over a litter of paper cranes. The younger brother who both resented and wanted to be like you, so he pressured mother and father to let him go to the academy and learn to become a ninja. Maybe he would've been good, but then again, you didn't give him a chance to find out. Last thing you needed was the same problem Itachi had; a younger brother proclaiming his hatred, seeking revenge against his sister for her sins. As it was, one of those was enough.

There were sounds of more fighting outside. Explosions. Yelling of newcomers. The loudest among them sounded like Uzumaki. You tilted your head upwards, rain drizzling over the brim of your hat, the strips of paper long ago removed, but the string of beads and bells rang almost reproachfully with the lightest adjustment of your head. Why were these others here so suddenly? These people from Konoha were becoming thick as rats in the nameless city. You felt the house shake and more beams cracked audibly. You decided to leave as others arrived in your place; a badly shaken Shikamaru, the pink haired medic Sakura, and still the screaming continued outside. You were on the roof now but saw no one nearby. You heard muffled outcries and debris being shifted and tossed aside. Uzumaki clones were crowding down into that hole of a little girl’s room where the Hyuuga continued to die. Why didn’t you just stick him through the back of the head and be done with it? Like beheading the innocent child, it would have been easy. And quick. The blade thrust through the back of his skull, clean through his forehead. The little one did not suffer at all, it was too fast, she wouldn't have known what happened. But Neji continued to suffer. Upon thinking on it, you realize that you had not thoroughly followed Pein’s instructions.

_No survivors._

Why didn’t you kill him?

 _’Now is not the time.’_ Sasuke had said. _’You aren’t ready yet.’_

What did it mean? What were you not ready for?

 _-Fall back.-_ Came Pein’s voice again. Your body moved before your mind did and you propelled yourself out of sight, heading to the ship yard where you saw other black and red blurs move. 

Konoha stayed behind.


	28. They All Fall Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a peculiar turn of events, more is revealed about your past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _’I’m sick but I need my disease; I’m sick; No one is safe, nowhere is safe…surrender…is your only hope.’- ‘Requiem’; Otep_

They All Fall Down

 

_At The Harbor…_

Clouds continued to explode with lightning and water. At the harbor it was worse. Waves rammed into the shore, ships, docks. Kakuzu found a warehouse and easily picked the lock with one string-tentacle, and then everyone went inside to seek refuge for now. Konoha was swarming Anarchy. But with their Hyuuga friend out of commission, and the mutt’s nose disabled in the rain and confusion, Akatsuki had no worries about being found. For now anyway.

“How many of them?” Pein asked Deidara, who, with his ocular implant, was in the best position up high to view all that transpired. You sat down atop a large box and leaned your back against another tower of crates behind you, hat resting on your lap. 

“More reinforcements came, un.” He began, and then reserved a moment to count in his head.

“And that includes?” Konan prodded a bit testily. This is where you cut in. “In all likelihood here’s actually more than we saw here today, they'll have arrived together. Some never showed up. As of now I am not sure, but I think their group currently consists of Shikamaru, Neji, Ino, Chouji, Kiba, Kakashi, Yamato, Naruto, Tenten, Gai, Lee, Sakura.”

“You know them on a first name basis, un?” Deidara was amused.

You ignored his jab. It was easier to list them all by first name, as you didn't know all their surnames. “I’ve heard their names on and off. And I’m only guessing because I didn’t see what you might have, but I know that I saw Uzumaki clones go after Neji. Sasuke interfered and I ended up not killing Hyuuga after all. But he may very well have died anyway. As for Kiba, his dog, and Shikamaru…Sasuke was fighting them.”

“He didn’t really bother with them.” Sasori said quietly. He was able to see some of the fight from so high up, but no fine details. “It seemed that he was stalling.”

“Yeah, because of me.” You answered quickly. 

“Don’t forget Sasuke had three people with him.” Kisame said, and then chuckled. “Suigetsu is good, but not good enough.”

“The redhead should be out of commission for a little while at least, unless she’s a medic type.” You drawled boredly. “The other guy…they called him Jugo once. He’s a strange one. Has the ability to change himself like Sasuke can.”

Sasori, who knew much about Orochimaru, said, “Actually it’s the other way around. Jugo is the one Orochimaru drew DNA off of for experimentation to create more like him…mainly as an attempt to create the perfect vessel for himself. Seldom few could handle the stress created from Jugo’s cells once induced into their body.” Not only had they been partners once, but he spied on the snake man for quite awhile there.

“It makes sense. The human body by nature is great at adapting to circumstances, but over time. For such a change like that to occur…” You trailed off then shook your head. “Okay we know about that, it’s not really important, just an annoyance. Konoha is probably here because of Sasuke. And Sasuke is here for reasons of his own.”

“You have found out why?” Pein inquired. He was mostly in shadow as usual. Pein seemed to favor remaining unseen when he could, especially when he was in a foul mood.

“We have an idea.” Konan voiced. “He’s looking for volunteers for some project.”

“What the hell for?” Hidan asked gruffly, and you sighed.

“Lab rats.”

They were all silent, and each Akatsuki looked at one another. You and Konan were the only ones not bewildered. But Itachi had the realization dawning on him before the others did.  
“For what?” Kakuzu this time.

“It's all conjecture, really, but my best guess is that he aims to revive a large group of people. His clan, possibly.” You answered. “He has Kabuto working closely with him, and several medics.” Your eyes darkened. “Medics whom used to follow _me_. But they won't have learned enough for Sasuke’s needs. No. He’s after me as well and has been, to my knowledge since…the Sound Nation. Or before it.”

“Sasuke has also captured all the remaining Jinchuuriki for his own use on this project at Kabuto’s request.” Konan said. “Saiya was given a report from Mai, a...ah...'late' subordinate of hers. Mai’s last report stated that Kabuto and Sasuke are seeking groups of primarily young and able people for their experiments, and passing massive amounts of chakra extracted from the jinchuuriki through these volunteers.”

“What the fuck is that going to accomplish, eh?” Hidan was smirking. To him it sounded pretty stupid.

“As said before,” You began, annoyed. “The human body has a great capacity to adjust. These people are absorbing energy in doses I assume. In doses, so they can absorb it enough for another dose awhile later. Sasuke only has the jinchuuriki that we don’t, and I am willing to bet he doesn’t have the capability to extract them. By the same token, there’s no point in trying to, for his purposes. He can’t control a few bijuu, but junchuuriki are much easier. Their bodies are now going to act as chakra transformers. Like a humanoid power plant. And how very sad for these so-called 'volunteers', at that. Their only compensation will be death when they've outlived their purpose, undoubtedly.”

“Right. And he would get the idea for this from Kabuto, and would likely use Saiya's subordinates to carry out this task.” Konan put in. The others were standing or sitting around the room, taking this all in, mildly stunned. Itachi however was unreadable and closed. Pein…he was analyzing. You almost saw the wheels turning in his head as he absorbed all this.

“Not unlikely, some of them don't have a very high tolerance for pain, and he could have easily bent a few of them to his will. There's others who are more loyal, however, and would prefer death over backstabbing me any day.” You said. Mai was one of them. “I don’t know how many he’s angling to resurrect. He would need a lot of human chakra, not that of a demon’s...it'd be difficult to purify without the correct method. A bijuu leaves its mark on a host, this was a big problem way back when, yes?”

“Yes.” Pein said. “Each nation struggled for some of that power. They took the bijuu or the people infected by their chakra. They would become weapons, most of which had been exterminated.” 

“So in this case people are being infected on purpose. Assuming this doesn’t come to backfire, they are not being used as weapons…but to revive them. But there is either a lot we don’t know, or there’s nothing on the other side of the equals sign. Say it doesn’t backfire. Say that he doesn't plan to revive anybody at all...or, Kabuto is misleading Sasuke, and has an agenda of his own." You shrugged. "They now have allllllll the energy either of them could possibly want for whatever undertaking they've got in mind." You motioned with your head in Itachi's direction, for emphasis. "Now, for the sake of argument, let's say Sasuke has some kind of plan for his long-dead clan. How the fuck does he transfer it into long-dead bodies? They’ll have decayed by now unless they’re so well preserved.”

“That is where the medics would come in.” Kakuzu said. 

“No. That’s where _Saiya_ would come in. To our knowledge there is no one else who can bring the dead back to life, specifically, the ones who are extremely far gone." Konan corrected. "  
More to the point she’s also the only one capable of re-forming entirely destroyed organs and tissues. Sasuke needs you, Saiya, to do what he wants.” Pein added, turning his head towards you. The man was right; Kakuzu alone had been proof of that. Naruto used his Rasen-Shuriken to finish the job; and that jutsu not only obliterated Kakuzu's body to the point of excess, leaving only a ragged corpse behind; but the technique practically shredded Naruto's very own arm down to a molecular level. Miraculously, you could fix Kakuzu up but admittedly the process took quite some time. Next to him, Deidara's physical reconstruction had not been any less taxing. You literally needed to draw upon raw elements to form up his ruined body, and it took no small measure of chakra on your part. In order for it to work at all it had to be converted or else Deidara would be experiencing issues of his own because of the sheer concentration of your strange chakra.

Thinking on this, you felt increasingly grim. “I know.” You said softly. “I’m aware of that.” As of late, your emotions got in the way, changing your chakra from what had been normal for your whole life to something highly different; perverted from its natural state. But you had been able to change it back for that jutsu. Since then, you'd somewhat lost the knack, on account of having been 'in the moment' and didn't even realize how you really converted your own energy in the first place, back to a neutral state. But no one here knows that; surely Sasuke doesn't either. And that was another likely reason as to why he wanted so badly for you to sign on with him. 

“There’s one thing yet unanswered.” Sasori pointed out. “Why does he want to bring his clan back to life when they are so far gone?”

Everyone slowly looked at Itachi, who shook his head once. 

“Just because they’re related does _not_ mean that Itachi knows about Sasuke’s activities.” You bit out irritably. “There’s one way to find out and that is from the source. But that probably won’t happen, Now, let's look at the other side of that coin: Kabuto. If he's only telling Sasuke what he wants to hear, what's his plan? Bring back Orochimaru? Or something more? Besides, I'm pretty sure Kabuto would have inherited alot of that snake bastard's techniques, he was his personal medic, and Orochimaru went to great lengths to extend his life span. It's not outside the realm of possibility that Kabuto can revive the dead as well."

“No matter what, we need those jinchuuriki.” Konan pointed out quite flatly. “We have to find them, and make sure neither Sasuke nor Kabuto can use them for their needs. If they need those Tailed Beasts, it won't be for a reason beneficial to us."

“Well I can think of one way to do that, un.” Deidara spoke up for the first time in a little bit, and he looked at you. “We use Saiya as bait.”

 

“It didn’t work right the first damned time.” Kisame snorted. “Don’t think it will a second.”

“It may.” Kakuzu was in deep thought. It could very well work. Kisame was right in a sense; it lured the enemy out of hiding, but it also didn't reel them in all the way. Mostly, this is because they didn't account for exactly how many people would show up, many of them high powered fighters. 

“Might I suggest that we stop plotting against me while I’m SITTING HERE?” 

Deidara smirked. 

Konan shook her head and said, “There’s time for this later. We have a tournament to finish, a lot of money is on the line and with Konoha here, Sasuke isn’t likely to stay much longer. As it is we will probably have to deal with them until we leave.”

“That may be so.” Pein began thoughtfully. “But we will seldom get a better opportunity than now. Sasuke needs Saiya and she would have enough time between now and, say, tomorrow, to make a ‘decision’.”

“Whoa whoa whoa, hold it, I am NOT agreeing to this!” You cried. “I already told him I’d rather…well, that doesn’t matter _what_ I said exactly but I am _not_ signing on to his team, he knows it, end of story!”

You might have let the whole group down on this one but no one appeared to blame you. Not for now anyway. Not visibly. You had just been used as bait, and they couldn't tell you or risk foiling the plan. The idea had been to eliminate the enemy while able, capture one or two of them, and extract the information that was required. But too much happened at once. And the flaw with not filling you in on the plot is that you can't play along, to help ensure success. As it was, you were a bit upset that they used you as a lure, but, you bitterly realized, it wasn't completely unexpected.  
“We will have to discuss this at a later time.” Pein finally said. “I will be in contact with all of you later in regards to the tournament. Until then, dismissed.” He jumped down and you watched the others leave. Konan was not among them. She hung back with Pein and you.

“Did you finish him?” Pein inquired as the very last man left, who was Itachi actually. He paused outside the door and heard Pein. You didn’t want to give the answer you had but there was nothing else to tell Pein. He probably knew anyway what happened.

“Neji…I…" You hesitated. Surely he heard what you mentioned before. Pein most likely wanted you to confess, for the words to come out bare where you could not veil them with other comments, to hide the ugliness of failure. There was no sense in hiding the truth, so you caved. "...No. I didn't kill him.”

"I gave you an order." He stated, and his voice issued out cold, hard and sharp, like a knife. 

“I blinded him.”

“That does not change that you disobeyed, it does not matter that Sasuke intervened.”

Your gaze firmed and you got up off the crate, marched right up to Pein, and showed him the most amount of disrespect you’ve ever given your sensei. "What happened, happened. You didn't tell me what was going down, and this is how it played out. Now deal with it, _Leader_.” And then left, but Konan was too appalled to absorb each word in that sentence. You were gone before Pein said anything more but he did not seem too angered by your icy choice of phrasing. Instead he shocked Konan and gave a small smile that was quickly gone.

“Pein, what…?”

With a noncommittal shrug, the man turned half towards Konan and said, “She had to develop a backbone eventually. I've been wondering when she would start resisting me.”

Konan’s jaw dropped.

 

_With You…_

 

You knew Itachi waited back for you after the meeting, but you were too wound up to inquire after his reasons. He followed you around Anarchy; not in the fashion of a lost puppy, but with purpose. Based on glimpsing back at him on occasion, you gathered that he had something to say. But he was taking his time on it, that’s for damned sure. You quickly tired of running around Anarchy to blow off some steam. Your body ached from exerting plenty of chakra. 

This new found control over Ghost Aspect was lovely and all, but it took its toll sure enough. It required you to morph every last one of your cells, and it wasn't easy to do so early on. You felt like you got passed through a meat grinder and _still_ came out in one piece, albeit worse for wear.  
But that piece of your mind you handed so keenly over to sensei sure tempered the pain you felt all over. It was a little grain of heaven in this dreary day. Although your mind had to wander to the raven haired male stalking along after you. Speaking of heaven, right now, your idea of a comfortable evening would be spent best by curling up with a half-naked Itachi. This wasn't completely out of the realm of possibility; you both had drawn closer as of late. Kisses were shared, mischief was carried out, and sexual tensions were pulled tighter, amongst other things here and there.

Your footsteps trailed in the door of your hotel room. Itachi alerted you by snapping the door shut. 

“Your mind has been closed.” He informed you quietly, and kicked off his shoes. You did the same and were now removing your cloak, flecks of rainwater dribbling onto the floor.  
“I wasn’t aware you were trying to talk to me.” You answered dully. Nestling against him for the night was more and more appealing now that fatigue settled in thoroughly. And you were glad for the fact that he couldn’t possibly know this notion because he just told you that your mind was closed. Funny, you didn’t realize it was. Although after a day such as this one had been it was understandable. You might not have wasted through as much chakra as you had when generating a Hellstorm during the Catfight, but hell, you were still tired, and cared less and less what others thought of it.

 _’Although,’_ You thought. _’I really don’t want Pein-sensei to bug me right now.’_ Which as it turns out is the proper answer for why Itachi found you to be so very close minded. Pein had telepathy. Pein had everything, it would seem. And here you were still working on it. _’But he’s older than dirt, its to be expected.’_

“Who is?” Itachi asked. You were startled and then smiled nervously. “Pein-sensei.” 

He chuckled and for the moment your spine tingled. Itachi should smile and laugh more. But he wasn’t smiling right now. Instead he was getting changed. The day was not quite gone but both of you were soaking wet. You also changed, but since you showered together earlier didn’t see the problem with stripping in front of him. Likewise, Itachi was also pulling his wet things off in plain sight. And you were liking what you were seeing. This man had the body of a god, cliché or not. In nothing but your midnight blue bra and panties, you moved into the bathroom, grasped two towels and threw one at Itachi’s head. He caught it and began to wipe away the rain water which dampened his skin.

You watched him out the corner of an eye, swallowing a small bit of saliva which accumulated, then wrapped your own towel around yourself. It grated against your skin a little bit. This place didn’t use fabric softener and your grimaced slightly at the sensation of a rough towel shearing against your skin, which was evidently made a bit tender from the ghost transformation. Thankfully the fabric softened as it absorbed the scant amount of moisture that had clung to you through the clothes. 

“We should train.” 

You looked up at him and tugged the towel taut around your chest. “That again? But I'm tired!”

“The need for it has not ended.”

“I thought we were talking about training, not sex.”

“….”

And here it was again. Often you were quickest to take topics out of context. In the time Itachi had known you; you had proven to be much more foul-minded than you let on. 

As he walked by Itachi snagged your towel and pulled, taking it with him on his way to the bathroom. You glared halfheartedly at his back and began getting dressed. A moment later you felt his dark gaze scanning lazily over your almost naked body, only to be put off quickly since you dressed up all the faster. While you did so, his mind turned back to the house in the slums, where Sasori had been cut down and then revived, except this time, under your control. You'd been different then, having shown both men a side that doesn't often see the light of day, as there usually is no call for it. But he felt quite attracted to that side. Maybe you did horrific things for all the wrong reasons, and for that alone, you shouldn't be his type of woman. And normally, you aren't the kind he'd go for. But spending this much time alone together changed his mind. He got to know you more than the others. He began to realize that, twisted though you are, there was a sort of beauty in your wickedness. And, you cared for your own. Having seen how you flared with deadly fury upon hearing the news about Mai--a woman whom you purportedly wanted nothing to do with at first, that spoke volumes. You could have killed these people that decided it was a good idea to follow you. Instead, from the sounds of things, you gradually accepted them...took them in, taught them, paid them, and generally concerned yourself with their wellbeing where possible. In turn, they gave back. Hyuuga was evidence on his own, and if this Mai woman squealed during interrogation, the Leaf ninja would have been visibly armed with the results. That is loyalty, which cannot be inspired by just anyone.

And it does not end there...he had seen you give death, and return life. You have tortured and healed, brewed poison and cooked meals. A woman who is herself a paradoxical balancing act, able to use each element, and see the world in a way which is both normal and unique. You hurt, smile, hide away any tears, and laugh...and don't excuse yourself for your crimes, but simply own them, accept them; but never forget them or where you came from, and where you're going now. 

Yes. For all that Itachi is, he should hate you for your atrocities and profound disloyalty to your birth country.  
But he didn't.  
You really weren't one of those women his dead parents would approve of dating.

Ambling back into the room, Itachi dragged his thoughts aside and looked over at where you were waiting. “I was talking about training.” 

“I know that, I just like to see to what extent you are perverse.” You shrugged. “Okay. So we train, I’m fine with that. We both need it. As it is, I’ve only really worked with Hidan and Kakuzu. We need a strategy. At least one or two.” You raised your eyebrows. “What about Kisame though? He should be in on this as well.”

“That comes later.” Itachi informed you calmly. “Let us begin.”

He sat on the bed, you sat across from him and made eye contact. “You know what to do?” Itachi asked quietly. Already the mood in this room had changed.  
“I have a clue.” You said, closed your eyes, exhaled, then opened them.

A shinobi’s mind can be a horrible place. 

 

_Later…_

 

Your head was hurting but Konan had dragged your sorry self out clothes shopping for yet another time. But Pein caught up and you wondered why. “Oh, what’re you doing here? Do you need a kimono too?” You asked him cheerfully. The festival is at hand now. Konan insisted that you dress up with her for the occasion.

“No one else is going to wear such things you know.” He said.

“So?” Konan grumbled. “Don’t rain on my parade.” But Pein didn’t need to; instead, you three halted before the doors of a shop which was closed. And there weren’t many places to go for formal wear. This is a lawless city. Dressing up isn’t the foremost priority on every brigand’s list. 

“Take this as a sign that there's no point.” Pein said calmly, victoriously. Besides, he really didn't want to see Konan in a kimono. The woman's ordinary garb was enough to give a prude a heart attack, a conservative kimono would be a startling change. “Ohhh _Pein_ , come on now, this isn’t supposed to be all work and no play!” Konan accused. “We can buy kimonos if we want!”

“Yes we can.” You agreed.  
“Enemies are close by.” Pein pointed out sharply. “Think and you will see why you ought not to bother with such things.”

Both you and Konan seemed irritated, then you shrugged. “At least we can still go to the festival. So what if we don’t dress up? It’ll be fine. Besides, there’s certain games we can’t really play in a kimono, you know?”

Konan finally agreed and Pein was grateful that you sided with him this time. On occasion Konan was more stubborn than anyone in Akatsuki. But after Pein said his part about enemies close by you knew he was so very right. It would be hard to deal with in a dress if they attacked. So it was time to be realistic. The Festival of Night is a time of rest and merriment. It is likely they might seek you out. Neji was probably going to want vengeance for his eyes. And he had plenty of manpower to back him up now. Luckily since he lost a good bit of fluid from his eyeballs it would be impossible for Konoha’s two medics here in Anarchy to do much, but they'd try their best to minimize the damage.

And now there was Uzumaki here. Whose side was he on? Back at the Sound Nation had he really awoken from Sasuke’s control? If so, had he returned to Sasuke or stayed with Konoha? He seemed to of appeared when the reinforcements from Konoha had shown up but that meant little or nothing. He could have been here all along. But the more you thought of that, the deeper doubt became rooted. Uzumaki is not a subtle ninja. He is loud and proud. 

It would be interesting to see where all these facts led. 

 

_One Day Later at a Teahouse…_

 

Calloused fingers slid over a clean white porcelain surface. It was smooth and almost soft comparison to his flesh. Across from him sat a redhead, who was exhibiting poor posture more today than he had in the past months; with his head resting against a palm, elbow propped, back bent, shoulders slumped. He was grieving. He should have done so a little while ago.

“It isn’t right, un.” The one with hardened hands said; he being Deidara. Sasori blew out a sigh.

“She…”

“Turned you into a human puppet, hnn.” 

“…Yes.”

Deidara’s single living eye focused on his partner, who refused to make eye contact. His hazel eyes were locked against the wood grain of their table. “I cannot go against her.” Sasori next said in a low voice. He did not wish for anyone else to hear and he dimly perceived out of his peripheral vision that a teahouse attendant was ambling over with a fresh tray of dumplings and a pot of tea. She set these things down for them, asked if they’d like anything else, and left when Deidara shook his head. He picked up one of the dumpling-loaded skewers and sunk his teeth into the topmost green pastel colored one. 

“So how you tell me about it, un?” The blond inquired with a puzzled quirk of the eyebrow.

“She never specifically said not to mention it to you or the others.” He turned his face more against his palm, squeezing his eyes shut, nursing an intensifying headache. He had been getting sicker and sicker since he was revived. While he didn’t exactly feel fresh as a daisy the first time it happened back at HQ, it was _nothing_ like this. Lately he could barely keep any food down. His body was having a hard time adjusting to whatever it is that you did differently that time. Although, ‘hard’ was an understatement. 

The redhead’s eyelids parted over clear, tormented hazel orbs at the sound of liquid pouring into a cup. Steam dusted over his face. Deidara had placed a cup beside his elbow. “Drink at least, un. It might help.”

Sasori had wished to scoff at this notion. Tea wouldn’t cure anything; but most medics and herbalists and people’s grandparents would have the youth of the world believe otherwise. He took a sip and ignored the scalding heat. It felt good, and the temperature would awaken his addled brains. The steam was lightly fragrant and a bit soothing.

“I must do something about this.” Sasori voiced while looking down into his cup. Deidara watched the other carefully. “But you can’t do anything can you, hm?” 

“Likely not.” Sasori said.

“….” Deidara was hating you more and more. Those whom he wished to live were the very ones who he despised the most. Since he found you able to self-revive; it meant but one thing to him: No ‘bang’. Only those worthy must go out with a bang. Like art. Art is a bang. Then it hit him.

Sasori is art.  
Sasori could go out with a ‘bang’.

“I can help.” The lack of his usual speaking habit altogether made Sasori look into Deidara’s non-mechanical eye.  
“How?” Sasori asked.

“You could go out with a bang.”

Sasori donned an alarmed expression. “What…?”

“Then she would have to bring you back, un." He gestured to himself with a thumb. "Like she did for me. And people would be there. She can’t do it to you twice. Not with witnesses, hn.” 

Sasori stared at him, his mind whirling furiously. He spoke of conspiracy. Of murder. It was madness! Where and when would such a thing happen? He couldn’t turn his body into an explosive like Deidara could, so was it really possible?  
“No one has to know.” Deidara intoned quietly, watching Sasori clutch his heart, which always ached badly since you killed and revived him. It hurt even more when he experienced intense emotions, but only because the body always responds to feelings. Blood pressure increases. Pupils dilate. Muscles tense. The heart beats quicker. He felt a little bit high, and vividly concerned.

Parts of Sasori were hurting since that day. His chakra pathways and gateways were being putrefied little by little. He saw the Hyuuga boy’s reaction to the sight of it. And his reaction alarmed Sasori a great deal. Neji, in the few times he’s seen the guy, never lost his composure. For him to noticeably react at all, to flinch the smallest bit…it was more than it appeared. A _lot_ more could be read into that.

His own composure was melting along with what felt like his innards. Some acid was working its way through him, wasting one part of his body at a time. Perhaps the infection could only be burnt from him. 

He once again raised his eyes to Deidara’s ironically patient, waiting face.

 

_With You…_

“What’s wrong with you bitch?” Hidan gruffly asked. You shot him a halfhearted glare. He swung between calling you ‘Saiya’, ‘woman’, or ‘bitch’. But hell, you couldn’t rightfully expect Hidan to always use your name. That would be pushing it. Kakuzu was there was well. The three of you were training; but you had been a bit off kilter during this session. “I don’t know to tell you the truth.” You replied honestly. “But something’s not quite right.”  
It was Sasori but you didn’t want to say it. There was _something_ about him right now. His mind was more closed than usual. He clearly did not want you to know what he was thinking and doing. _’Well, as Itachi or Pein-sensei might say, this does not bode well.’_ You thought, looking down at the floor, unsure what to do. Sasori was undoubtedly up to something and whatever it was made uncertainty writhe in your gut like a tangle of night crawlers. You supposed that whatever it might be, you could likely hear about it soon enough. Where Sasori was, Deidara usually is as well. Deidara is not and never will be the most subtle man unless it counts on his survival. 

You blocked Hidan’s scythe with your wakizashi locked against the spine of the weapon between two of those red blades, the side of your arm braced firmly against the middle blade. Since the wakizashi was not long enough Hidan couldn’t use his triple sharp glorified farming instrument to break it; such as how he could with a sword if he went about it in the proper manner. Not to say it wasn’t hard as all get out to do so though. 

Standoff. Kakuzu was hanging back and watching this time. He didn’t carry a favorite weapon about like you two. Hidan pushed more pressure against your wakizashi, but you did the same, and as if to support it, had a thumb pressed against your inner elbow and the rest of your fingers gripped around the top of the middle blade of Hidan’s scythe so he couldn’t slash it downwards to injure you. He was having a bear of a time holding his ground at present, but it was harder for you. In order to keep this up, you had to keep the Strength aspect active, but also used Shield to reinforce your blade. Couple that with standing on a hard concrete surface at the moment, and you weren’t about to budge any time soon, at least as long as you could hold out. But Hidan is much stronger than he looks, and the only thing allowing you to stay on currently even footing with him was the absurd amount of chakra you harbored and manipulated to suit various needs. 

“You know,” Hidan began slowly, with a wisecracking grin. “You’re the same as other bitches. Always augmenting parts.”

“Rather astute of you to notice.” You sneered, lips parting slightly in a toothy cross between a smirk and a grin…yet not unpleasant enough to be considered a mocking grimace. 

“Do not attempt mental warfare Hidan.” Kakuzu drawled with all possible laziness, a rustle of paper following whilst he fiddled with a bingo book, writing little notations here and there. “You will not succeed.”

“Brains aren’t your strong point. Leave that to myself and Kakuzu.” You added, and the cultist affected a deep, angered growl from low in his chest.  
“I’m not fucking standing here all day!!”

“Looks to me like we are.” You observed, lips closing and violet eyes narrowing into more of a cruel, confident expression than what it was before. There isn't much of a need to weak the mask of nil emotion around your comrades, not unless the threat was real.

Then you all went blind and deaf and vibrations coursed through the city. 

When your vision cleared you and Hidan had broken the deadlock and were looking around in utter bewilderment. On rooftops surrounding this derelict lot red and black cloaks flashed by, and not too far from them across the street were other blurs in green, blue, and white. You glanced at Kakuzu and Hidan and shot for the nearest roof. They nearly drew level with you. You were following the others and were led to what used to be the stadium….everything there, except apparently the glass Swirl, which was laced with fractures now. Bodies and debris were thrown everywhere across the immediate area. You grabbed both Hidan and Kakuzu’s cloaks and dropped behind a nearby slab of wood propped against the broken side of an inn, and listened, placing a finger to your lips. You had seen Uzumaki before he saw you. Others landed beside him now. They were Sharingan Kakashi, Haruno Sakura, and a weird-eyed man you knew as Yamato. Others were on the way. It was clear you three had approached from the wrong side; but it wasn’t completely your fault. The other Akatsuki-hued blurs had been hard to track and you lost sight of them quickly on the way here.

“What the f-“ You smacked a hand over Hidan’s mouth and listened. Kakuzu remained silent as well. 

“What’s going on?! Naruto, you’re hurt!” Sakura exclaimed, and went to him, then began healing the more obvious wounds. Naruto gritted his teeth, one eye closing. He nearly got an arm blown clean off. Up above circling the wreckage was a huge white bird of prey. It must be Deidara. 

“I ss-saw two Akatsuki going to the Ss-stadium and f-followed them. They saw m-me and attacked-d.” He said, wincing, halting through his sentence. “GAH!!”

Sakura’s frown creased deeper and she did not apologize for her friend’s discomfort. Yamato crossed his arms and watched Sakura heal Naruto. “Judging from the explosion, you’ve gone against Deidara haven’t you?” 

Naruto, with one eyelid twitching while closed, nodded. He placed a hand on the opposite shoulder, planning to relocate it; but Sakura did so before he did; and quite gruffly at that. “YEOW!!”

“Hold still!”  
“Ite…e..”

“Then the other must have been Deidara’s partner, Sasori.” Kakashi concluded. Naruto nodded, both eyes open now, shining clear blue in the cloudless, sunlit day.  
“I have sent for reinforcements as you requested.” Yamato began, looking at Kakashi. “With Guy, Lee and Neji incapacitated we certainly need all the help we can get. And Ino is staying with them to keep their conditions stable. Kiba and Akamaru are standing guard.”

“Yes we are down quite a few.” Kakashi accorded thoughtfully, his one black eye roving around the scene. 

“Where are they?” Sakura asked. “Ino shouldn’t take all that on herself. I can help her.”

“You’re right.” Yamato assented, nodding to her once. “We got a room at a hotel. It’s at…” He told her the address, and you grinned knowingly, then turned to leave. Hidan and Kakuzu weren’t there and you sighed. Figures they’d leave you here! No matter. You made your way out, unseen, and around the wreckage of the arena until you spotted the rest of Akatsuki. When you walked up and stood not far away from Kisame you shot an accusing look at Hidan and Kakuzu. Kakuzu didn’t give a crap but Hidan smirked. 

“What’s going on?” You asked. 

“Where have you been?” Konan asked irritably. Seeing as how you couldn’t remember the last time she used such a tone with you, this was obviously important, and you frowned. “Eavesdropping on Konoha.” Your eyes moved to Deidara who was still standing on the back of a big white clay bird. You thought it was an oversized chicken with goose wings. But Sasori is the one you didn’t see hanging around with everyone else. And come to think of it…you hadn’t noticed before since you were occupied, but…his connection to you was severed.  
Sasori laid dead, a ragged and blood-soused corpse, in the middle of the circle Akatsuki formed. There were many burn marks where his cloak was torn, but that wasn’t all. He had a crater below his heart. It was burnt badly around the lip of that hole. “What the fuck?” You asked, quietly surprised, like one who has just found out something world shattering but is too stunned wrap their head around it.  
“You know what has to be done Saiya.” Pein said, eyes locked on the corpse. You did your best not to act conspicuous about it. But now you had a sneaking suspicion of what this was all about. Sasori liked his freedom enough to commit suicide. 

Deidara had his bird slip its oversized tailfeathers under Sasori’s corpse and then the individual nondescript feathers curled around the corpse like a fist.  
“Where should I bring him, un?” Deidara asked no one in particular. Before Pein could speak you intervened.  
“Konoha has reinforcements on the way. This place isn’t going to be safe for anyone anymore.” Your eyes darkened. “And I’m willing to bet that Suna will come as well once they catch wind that the Kazekage’s _murderer_ is here. This city will be no more after today.” 

“She’s probably right.” Kakuzu added in support. “I heard what they were saying before I left.”

“Then bring him to headquarters.” Pein said, looking around at the wreckage, as if seeking for an answer as to how this happened at all. Alas, he would find none. Especially not a _straight_ answer. While you glanced around as well, Deidara took off and you then watched after him.  
“You should have gone with him Saiya.” Konan muttered, but you shook your head. “I have a couple things to do before I leave. He can wait, much as he hates it.”

Konan was crossed with being annoyed and amused but said nothing more. Pein took over from there and addressed the group quickly. He sensed that Konoha was making their way closer. “Everyone get to headquarters on the double. It hardly needs to be said, but make certain you aren't followed.” There would be no tournament now. Especially if reinforcements were coming; and Pein knew well and good that he couldn’t risk an assumption that they weren’t going to show up after all. The Nameless City was done now. It was a long time coming; Anarchy had a good run; but many people here were on the death sentence and they would be killed on sight. The city would be razed to the ground. But it would be rebuilt. This wasn’t the first time a city like this had existed…it would just take awhile for it to come around again in another place one day. Maybe not in many years, and perhaps not known by the same moniker. But it was bound to happen as long as there was a sense of law, justice, and a desperate need to evade punishment and the death penalty. 

You had gone off and your mind was whirling. There was a bit to do and probably a small window of time to do it in. Kakuzu drew level with you and you afforded him a curious look, disturbed out of your world of thought.  
“Come with me. There’s one thing that must be done.” He more commanded than offered. You didn’t know what it was but Kakuzu never asked you to do anything so you opted to go along with it. You followed him and were surprised to see he was leading you back to the wrecked stadium. His skin blackened and he smashed in a few thick slabs of splintered wood. Beyond it was a door that was partially crushed inwards. It was sloppily painted white and labeled ‘STAFF ONLY BEYOND THIS POINT’. Kakuzu also ripped this thing off its hinges and you inclined an eyebrow. “What do you need me for, now?”

“The cage where the staff keeps money is somewhere down here.”

“Looks like you thought of it before they did.” 

“We will see.” You followed him down the stairs and wondered inwardly once again why he had you with him for this. He unlike others could use his tentacles to carry a lot of items; in this situation it could be bags of money. He was strong too and could power through all the doors and locks and walls like he already demonstrated. Was this just Kakuzu’s odd way of spending time with you? It wouldn't be too shocking; the others had their ways of absorbing your spare time as well. And it was not to be said that the minutes you were spending here now was ‘spare’ by any stretch of the imagination.  
No, you decided to also use this opportunity to talk to a fellow murderous bloodthirsty Akatsuki badass.  
“Anarchy is circling the drain right?”

“Of course.”

“So I’ve been thinking about what I heard earlier.”

“Which part?”

“Both Konoha and what was said afterwards about the city…see, you left too early to hear it but by some sleight of fate Konoha has their wounded holed up in the same hotel as me.”

You both were moving weirdly in concert, now flattened against opposite walls in one hallway at a t-junction, and peering around the corners. Since there was no movement you both darted down the halls and looked around the next corner. Down here was one man and a ninja hound. You pulled out eight poisoned senbon and pegged both of them with four. They died and at the same time they hit the floor, you heard corpses drop in the hall parallel yours, then moved onwards to the next corner, checking doors as you went along. Nothing interesting yet...offices, counting rooms, bathrooms, employee locker rooms, overflow storage, but no safes and no cage.  
Soon you were back in Kakuzu’s presence since the halls adjoined once again.  
“You are considering killing them then?” Kakuzu asked.  
“Hell yeah.” Without skipping a beat you continued the conversation, unsheathing your wakizashi and throwing it down the hall at a towering 6’7’’ tousle haired man. The blade was buried in his chest. All the while, both of you moved foreword.

“They’ll have guards.” Kakuzu said, the strings binding his left wrist unlacing, and a hand shot forth in time to catch a kunoichi in the throat as she turned the L-bend up ahead. He dug his black nailed fingers into her throat around her windpipe, pressed his thumb in, and ripped it out. She dropped without a sound. 

“The boy and his dog.” You said, turning the corner in stride with him, opening a hand palm outward to the dead man three feet away and, with a metallic ring, your wakizashi flung to your hand. It was half covered in blood. 

“They’re weak idiots. It will be easy.” Kakuzu told you matter-of-factly. Now you were both peering around a corner again, and it was clear this time; Kakuzu already killed the kunoichi who must have been the patrol for this hallway. But as you both approached you both ducked to avoid four mega shuriken that shot out of a thin, barely visible slit along the wall, then leapt above the next set and rolled under the third group of flying stars. Now you two were out of range around the corner. And here, posted at each door was two shinobi dressed in armor that mimicked that of ANBU Black Ops, except it was a bit lighter, and they did not wear masks. There were three doors on each side of the wall. Twelve armored shinobi. And they each seemed to be armed to the teeth as well. It was hard to see the things at this angle but there were super thin axe like blades adorning their bracer plates, and on the shin guards as well. Then there were the three kunai holsters strapped against each thigh, and tanto sheathed in both boots on each man. A katana was fastened against either their left or right shoulder blades, depending on which hand was dominant. They all had three bags fastened to the standard cargo belt, and each one was packed full to all appearances.

However, at the end of the hall was a pair of ninja dogs with one handler, a kunoichi who was kneeling beside them and scratching their ears. But they were alerted and pricked their ears in your direction. Behind them was a barred metal door.

“Found it.” Kakuzu commented.  
“What overkill.” You drawled. Without warning you shot down the hall in a burst of Speed, and with both your bloodied wakizashi and clean katana in hand, stuck a blade through the front shoulder blades of each dog. They fell to the floor and laid there whining till they died. You unsheathed the blades from animal flesh and scissored their handler in half right as she reached for her own sword. She hit the floor amongst her pets in two pieces; torso and legs. Her innards spilled out aplenty, and other bodily fluids poured out amid them to intermingle with the blood of both human and animal. 

Behind you Kakuzu had already punched a hole through one man’s chest guard and tore his heart from his chest. He crushed it against his palm and dropped it, murder giving his strange whiteless eyes a fearsome clarity. He used the corpse as a meat shield to catch all the volley of kunai thrown at him. In that time you moved around one attacker running your way and buried both of your weapons into his side, through his ribcage. You withdrew them, he dropped. Another came at you. This time you slid the wakizashi under the armor on his belly, smashed the katana's pommel against the top of his head to render him unconscious, but also stabbed your wakizashi into the abdominal aorta left of his lumbar after taking it out of his bleeding stomach. Their armor was weaker in the back, which is where it was fastened onto their bodies by heavy studded leather harnesses. 

Before one more reached Kakuzu as he strangled a man to death with his tentacles and he dissected a second, you threw your katana up into the air so you could fling one poison senbon at one of the last men standing who was unsheathing a katana of his own to attack Kakuzu. This senbon hit his throat, clipping his pulse. You caught your katana underhand and spun it around the back of your hand then stabbed it over your shoulder into a shinobi’s eye; one who had hoped to grab you from behind. He slid off your angled blade to the floor, eye fluid and blood lubricating the black metal. 

Kakuzu finished the battle by sliding one of his tentacles into the last ninja’s ear and…you can fill in the rest. He died with an awful scream and Kakuzu retracted his dripping wet tentacle. Kakuzu likely did this more for his own amusement than out of practicality. He's got to be one of the most ruthless men you've met.

“Shall we?” He offered, and headed to the ‘cage’ door, which is actually a vault. Its called a cage for reasons you could only guess at. You followed and simultaneously activated the Water sigil, which washed your weapons clean. You spun them to air dry them and then sheathed them. Kakuzu would’ve raised an eyebrow at you if most of his face wasn’t covered. “What?”

“Continue…”

“So in killing them I finish the job.” You went on. “They’re in the same building as me, it won’t be hard to get to them; they’re practically begging to die.”  
He nodded his head once and hardened his skin, then rushed the vault door. There was a vibration and an earsplitting bang when the metal was torn from its hinges and crashed to the ground.  
“What was the question exactly?”

You stepped inside, seeing him standing on top of the fallen door. It must have been three feet thick. Dust was settling so you both waited a minute.  
“I kind of gave a piece of my mind to Pein-sensei about why I didn't kill Hyuuga Neji. At this point, I'm not sure I should bother."

“Ah.” He went further within and saw the money was actually already stowed in briefcases. But the cage wasn’t full. Many shelves were empty. You took from a pouch a scroll used for storage. Since you never knew what was going to happen you usually carried one with you, and unrolled it on the floor. Kakuzu didn’t appear surprised to see this object. He knew you as one to be prepared for most occasions. If the situation required that lot of loot had to be transported, here was the solution. You both set to work in putting bundles, bags, and briefcases of money down on the scroll. Every so often you paused to make a hand sign and the money would ‘poof’! into the paper. 

“He might think that you don't have a backbone.” Kakuzu reasoned.  
"Because after all that I went and did what he wanted me to do in the first place?"  
"No, because you aren't standing behind your own argument."  
"Aren't those one in the same?"  
"Not especially."  
He was right. "I suppose that's true, but what if I have other motivating factors?"  
"Such as?"  
"Let's not get into that."  
"You brought it up."  
"That's not the point."  
"Sasori's death wasn't an accident, was it." A statement more than a question.  
"Not especially."

You both finished packing up the money in silence and then, hearing voices down the hall, you sighed and rolled the storage scroll up and handed it over to Kakuzu. “Here comes the cavalry."

He said nothing and broke through the ceiling. You followed him and soon, were home free. There were cries of rage left in your wake, but you ignored them and made your way to the hotel, making certain that you weren't being tailed. But instead of heading up to the room, you went right for the lobby. Queries had to be made, and depending on how 'amiable' the hotel staff were, you may need to show them the error of their ways. It turned out to be easier than that. Itachi was sitting on one of the sofas and the lobby attendants were unconscious on the rug. Lazily opening his black eyes, they bore into your purple ones and his lips parted.  
“Fifth floor. Room 228.” He tossed the key across the room. You caught it, brow quirking in slight puzzlement. Despite a setback or two, today was turning out to be pretty damned good. The pieces were falling into place wonderfully well, as if by design. But how could Itachi have known what you're up to if it'd only been decided minutes ago?

“Are you coming with me?”  
“I doubt that you require assistance.”  
“That’s a yes?”  
He reopened his aching eyes and gave what was the Itachi equivalent of an insolent look. You pouted. “I’m just a widdle medic.”

He got up reluctantly and went with you, and said nothing on the way. You got the impression that Itachi was annoyed with you for making him move, after having been kind enough to make your job easier. But he couldn’t sit there forever. Really, this was only an excuse for you to spend more time with this man. You paused to contemplate the door of room 228 and wondered; was it really a good idea to just unlock it and walk in? Wouldn’t bashing the door in be much more dramatic? But drama isn’t what must be gone for in this case. You affected a different, slightly lower voice of an ‘older’ woman and said, “Room service!”

“Oh, come in!” Came a young lady’s voice. You remembered who it belonged to; Ino. Then after that came a man’s voice saying, “Oh god Ino, seriously? What did you order this time?” This was Kiba you figured, and then unlocked the door and walked in, Itachi following you. From this angle, it was easy to see Ino's confusion. "I didn't, I thought you--" She broke off, and you grinned. Service with a smile! Not the sort they expected, though. In mere moments they were all caught in a genjutsu, all of them standing rigid, even the dog. Itachi wasted no time at all and with the room being only so large, the scope he had to cast a jutsu over was fairly small compared to a field of battle. 

“Oh come on!” You grumbled. “Leave some for me would you?”  
“You wanted my help.” Itachi countered.  
“Yeah I know.”

Aside from the mere desire to soak up some of his time, this group of people would be troublesome to fight with in a small area. Ino would be easy to disable, but Kiba and Akamaru tend to use larger attacks, one in particular, it being ‘Fang Over Fang’; an attack that usually arced in the air to gain momentum before hitting a target. It hit hard though. If Kiba and his mutt used that in this room then you’d be staring down a hole into the basement. With Itachi here, this hazard was avoided handily.

“Incidentally Saiya, don’t do as you planned. There is no point.” Itachi said, watching you move towards the first order of business; Neji. He was unaffected by a genjutsu which he cannot see (being blind), as others were. “Well well well, what’ve I got here? An unfinished job I see.” You said.

Neji turned his head towards you, having kept his face averted away until now. His whole lower body was mummified and there were some bloodstains visible. Ino had been in the midst of treating a smaller puncture beside his belly button. This Hyuuga couldn’t get up and defend himself even if he wanted to. But he said nothing and lowered his head slightly. His hitai-ate was fastened over the gauze curled around his head, forming a blindfold to protect his ruined eyes. He could've died from multiple sources of harm in the state he'd been in. It was miraculous that they managed to shift the debris off without killing him.  
“I knew you would come.” Neji finally spoke with his head turned again towards the outer wall. His timbre sounded lower and heavier than usual; drugged probably, to ease the pain. 

But seeing all this, and knowing that Itachi and Kakuzu were right--killing him is pointless now--you shook your head, and cursed inwardly. You moved over and sat down next to him. He felt the bed dip and turned his head back towards where he sensed the new weight. You touched where one of the blood spots was on his right leg, He didn’t flinch in the slightest but you could tell that he wanted to.  
“You look like a cotton swab.” You informed him, voice flat with distaste. It was a waste of bandages; Ino, in her haste and terrified concern for her wounded friend, had used too many to contain the bleeding. And meanwhile, behind you, Itachi was sitting down and watching with great interest. Things happen beyond our control sometimes. If you had really wanted to kill Neji, he would be dead already. And the rest of them would be soon to follow.  
So on this note, Itachi used his genjutsu to completely knock Kiba, Akamaru, and Ino out cold on the floor. They all flumped down at the same time with a collective ‘thud’ now that gravity was permitted to take over.

“You remind me of someone. And so does blondie over there.” You began, and untied his hitai-ate, then unraveled the thick spool of bandages furled around his head. “There is one of your clan who has followed me for some time now. He, like Mai,” At the momentary confusion flickering over what you could see of his face, you quickly added, “Mai being the one Shizune captured,”

He didn’t nod but continued to listen. What else can a helplessly maimed man do? He was using the remainder of the strength which hadn’t bled out of his veins to stay alive. Fighting was _not_ an option. 

“He’s become quite valuable to me.” You said and now, his cut eyes and nose were revealed. The wounds were agitated red, and there was plenty of swelling. His eyelids were held closed. There had been smaller rolls of gauze pressed against his half-empty eyes so that no more of the humor and blood could leak out. You took these off as well, peeling tape away with experienced hands. He winced.  
“I take care of my own. That’s why Shizune is dead. But I didn’t kill her. She died on her own after I returned the ‘favor’ she paid to Mai.”

“That does not make it equal.” Neji pointed out.

“Quite right, it doesn’t. By all means I should’ve gone after her torturers. But I couldn’t risk trying to go there.” You glanced at Itachi. “Certain people talked me out of it.” You stripped your left glove off. Itachi noticed that the glyph on your ring finger began to glow blue-white. He couldn’t tell what it was though. At his questioning look, you said, “This one…I’ve used it on you before, Itachi.” You stripped your right glove off as well and then the glow consuming your left hand, when touched to your right it spread like fire. You let it shine brighter before placing your hands over each eye, connecting the tips of your thumbs over the bridge of his nose where it was cut. Neji experienced a tingling sensation that quickly became cold and numbing. 

“Why are you doing this?” Neji asked.  
“Because I am not happy with how our fight turned out earlier. And you remind me of someone. But…so does the girl as I said.”

“Who?” He was curious. He had to know what it was that forces his assailant to undo the damage inflicted.

“I come from the Hidden Grass.” You began. “Like you, I was in a cell of three once. I was not the only one who wanted to be a medic. The Grass was the place to _be_ for young healers.” You turned your head towards Ino’s form. Her long bangs were swept across her pale forehead. In her unconscious state, she appeared quite peaceful.  
“Let it be said that we all have a rival at some point in our lives. And mine? She was the most annoying thing that walked this Earth. She had eyes a shade lighter than this girl over here.” Your lips peeled back in a partial grimace. “I guess this is some type of closure for me; a way to pay tribute. She was killed in action." Your voice was tranquil, but if not for self control, you might begin trembling. It was the first time you saw a person your age cut down mercilessly, and that moment of bloodshed resonated deeply within you. There was unfinished business with her. She was your rival. And she was slaughtered before matters could be settled properly as rivals. "Her patients passed into my care, shortly after that another person was brought in to fill the hole she left in our team. It wasn't the same. Ironically, rivals help us to improve. And I never had the chance to finish with her. I suppose, I never shall. Because of how things started off for me when I began classes, I once doubted my abilities so much to the point of hindering my own progress. Caring for her patients full-time was when I realized I could be a medic, if only I stopped being an idiot."

"Do you mean to say that despite how you can revive the dead, you won't bring her back for your own purposes?" Neji queried, managing to keep his incredulity in check. Murderers like yourself often do things for the worst reasons, bringing a girl back from the dead so you could kill her yourself wasn't beyond imagining. Additionally, he was keeping a polite status quo to the conversation. If there's a chance he could get his sight back so soon after having lost it, he would take that opportunity. Now if only he could think of a way to convince you to step into the next room and work your magic for Guy and Lee, both of which might be wheelchair bound for life if there was absolutely nothing that could be done for them.

You said nothing for a long minute, watching feather-light chakra undulate around your hands like wind, repairing Neji's facial injuries bit by bit. "No," Came your response, slowly, certainly. Like placing one foot in front of the other. Itachi turned his head back in your direction at this response. He'd been watching the door to make sure nobody interfered, should unwelcome guests arrived. Sensing the surprise from both men, you drew a breath and released it slowly. You had to control your breathing, your chakra flow, your temperament. If you weren't careful, all you'd do is permanently damage the man's eyes. And then this would be a terrific waste of time.

"It's a complicated thing. I know what others think of me, and that's of no concern. I am capable of terrible things, yes. But in my own way, I feel as if I owe her a debt of gratitude. And to return one whom would still be a mere girl to a world where there is nothing left for her... _that_ is an injustice I am not willing to commit." No matter what country you originate from, the academies are strict. Young healers are expected to take patients into their care from the day they stabilize usage of the Mystic Hand technique. As they progress, so do they also graduate to more care intensive patients. Ninja are expected to learn quite early on how to use weapons and chakra to deadly effect. It wouldn't be any different for ninja medics. Before your heart had considerably blackened, you took care of people, only to learn that the medical branch of the ninja world had more to offer than healing and plain goodness.

She had been young when she was slain. It wasn't long after she gained a higher understanding of the most basic healing jutsu of all, Mystic Hand. You told her not to go out one fateful night...everyone told her it wasn't wise, there'd been border skirmishes and it was no place for a child. Her older sister got sent out with a few others to double the watch, the assignments were decided that day. She was told to stay home, but your rival followed her sister, and she found nothing but death.

You had stalked after her in silence, to stop her from being a total idiot and do something stupid, or to mock her if she did. That's what kids do, but it wasn't what you expected. You remained unseen, and watched her blood spurt across the tall grass as three swordsmen's blades bit into her flesh, like saber-toothed beasts leaping from the brush...they weren't there, and then they were. The men realized it was a young girl they chopped down in their frenzy, a little one not responsible for anything. Her satchel was ripped open, and out spilled gauze, salves, healing supplies...they swiped these, and vanished into the night. Who knows if they achieved what they came for. Would it matter if they had? You didn't know the answers to such things back then. You were petrified in place, listening as death rattled and bubbled in her lungs.

It was hard to forget how the bloodied grass rising up on all sides quivered with her as she trembled and gurgled her last. And now, you couldn't even remember her name.

Neji was squirming now, same as her, but with more life in him. It was the part of this healing process where one feels extremely uncomfortable. Perhaps his marked discomfort was also because you were using him as a captive audience. These were things that you didn't mind him knowing or speaking of. All it would do is make them believe that you can be saved. It would spur them into their usual song and dance, trying to preserve those who can be released from the clutches of vice. Like Sasuke, whom they desperately needed to believe can be saved from his doom-driven path.

Their good nature is their downfall, making them easier to manipulate, should it come to that. And you had no doubt that it would.

“I had things I would say to her; if only I remembered _what_.” You admitted, once again retrieving your mind from the thick of reverie. “This woman over here isn’t the same person. The bottom line is I _did_ come here planning to kill you, Hyuuga Neji. But you both look like someone I know, and have been watched over by someone I hate. And lastly, I think you can do better than you have. I want to see what it is I kept hearing about. A Hyuuga prodigy, that’s you isn’t it? The one they talk about as though lotus flowers spring up from your footsteps.” You snorted. “True or not I plan to find out. So from here on out, Hyuuga Neji, you are bound to me in debt. How you intend to pay it is your matter entirely. But all debts must be paid. Know this well.”

As if on cue it was done. You lifted your hands and placed them, still glowing, on his legs where the biggest bloodstains were. “You may open your eyes now. Take your time.”  
Neji for the first time suffered fear of being let down, he had permitted himself to swell up with hope. But he also knew that if destiny permitted it, he would certainly have his sight back. And when he opened his eyes, and the world came into focus, he was shocked. You were healing his legs, or the big wounds at least, and without touching the skin. He dared to activate the Byakugan and it reacted perfectly as it had before the injury. He watched in utmost wonder, but you were done and pulling your gloves back on now.  
“Don’t strain them.” You said, while getting up. “I’m curious about you, but not so much that I’ll do this again."

It was amazing. No one could have done that that he knew of…certainly not Ino or Sakura. Tsunade, maybe, but either way he wouldn't know now.

“I heard that your pink friend was coming here.”

“She already did.” Neji said. “Not to be ungrateful but you should leave before they return.”

You looked down at the sleeping bodies littering the carpet. “Yes, perhaps we should.” You glanced briefly at Itachi and headed out. He followed. You both headed to your room to pack up. Neji said nothing about Itachi's presence, the man is chained directly to Sasuke's misery after all, so it was surprising. In all actuality, Neji had been as helpless as a newborn babe in that room, and taking steps against your comrade would be a poor method of repayment. He sat on the edge of the bed and flexed one knee, then the other.

Now completely out of earshot, you turned a look of disbelief Itachi's way. “Not going to ask why?"  
“No need."  
“I’m glad he didn’t thank me.”

Itachi’s mouth curved ever-so slightly. “He will find out the hard way.”

“Hm? How do you figure?” The room was reached, and you both started gathering any items left around the living space during the stay here. There was a few moments of silence as you both put your things away. “It would seem that even those dark of heart have issues accepting a quantity your chakra. I am certain he’ll receive worse effects than Sasori.”

You laughed. “Oho! I knew you'd catch on! Hyuuga might have his eyes back, but at what price?”  
“He had no choice but to pay it. Like me.” Itachi said coolly. “You seem to have delved so deep into the arts of poison that even your chakra has taken on a corrosive nature of its own, thought I've noticed it wasn't always so.”  
You lifted your head up, having been leaning over a scroll, and frowned at him. “Are you alright?”  
“I’ve been fine since I absorbed a smaller amount. Sasori, on the other hand, was revived with a large concentration of what appeared to be black chakra; though its configuration changed midway through.”  
“Great way to answer nothing.” You mumbled, poking around the room to make certain that nothing would be left behind. Though, while not wholly unexpected, this was a bit of disconcerting news to say the least. You're supposed to be a healer, and your chakra has become detrimental. While, yes, you have done monstrous things, this didn't cause the condition as a whole. A person's energies fluctuate to reflect their soul, what lingers in the profound depths of the heart. Lately, your moods had been unstable under the influence of various stressors. Incidents that incurred extreme episodes of wrath popped up more often, as well as sensations of lust, confusion, doubt, and melancholy. It's a small wonder why your chakra turned pitch black with such conflicted feelings, most of them negative. The poker face is only that: a face. Its impartial calm remains on the exterior; a mask. If only you could put your feelings away in a sealed box, where they wouldn't taint you to the core. Alas, that's not how it works. But now wasn't when you should be feeling the least bit sorry for yourself. There were things to be taken care of.

“I will need new ‘Light’ still.” Itachi said, interrupting your reverie. This happened quite a lot lately. 

You placed all your items into the storage-scroll and stuffed it away in a pocket, shaking your head a little in response. “New ’Light’, you say?”

“It's more of a term from among my late relatives. Since you're not of the Uchiha Clan I wouldn't expect you to know."

“I might be by ‘injection’ someday.”

“….”  
“……”


	29. Mind Over Matter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the way back to headquarters, Itachi decides to take an opportunity to prove a point or two. Is there room in your heart and soul for him, come what may?  
> Can you find your way through it all, and come out on the other side as more than anyone ever saw in you?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rhig: Hello everyone! As ever, I apologize for taking awhile...but hey! You know me, I always come back and update eventually. xD' Thank you for the kudos, reviews, bookmarks and viewings! Also, to those who celebrate it, Happy Thanksgiving! 
> 
> The following quotes are from songs that, to an extent, hold true to this chapter.
> 
>  _‘Why dontcha pull the pin on that grenade ya coddle…strugglin’ to stand, with your head in your hands…I wanted to believe you would win the war in your head that I did not understand…I did not understand…every night, the questions poured out…listen to the black raven sing.’ – "Suicide Note"- Johnette Napolitano._  
>  \--
> 
>  
> 
> _You desecrate your temple with anger._  
>  A hollow body fueled by hate  
> Hollow  
> I feel no better.  
> Anger  
> Don't look for answers  
> Hatred  
> Blown away there was never a reason why
> 
>  
> 
> _It's sick either way_  
>  It's sick either way  
> It's sick either way you look at it so
> 
>  
> 
> _Take what you want and leave a hole inside._  
>  Take everything you need to keep you satisfied.  
> Break everything you see then try to hide  
> Take it all but you're never taking me alive
> 
>  
> 
> _Now you have used my weakness against me._  
>  A Trojan Horse already through the gate.  
> Weakness  
> I spiral down into the  
> Excuses  
> Search for excuses  
> Hatred  
>  **It's time to take an honest look inside.** \- “Taking Me Alive”; Dark New Day.

Mind Over Matter

 

Leaves and thin branches slapped against your form as you darted over and under and around hulking shapes, through the forest and away from the noise. Anarchy was left yet further behind, and you had been traveling for some time now, trying to put as much distance between oneself and the long arm of the law. Akatsuki had scattered through the dense forest and all made their way back to headquarters even now, as daylight faltered. Then the last golden rays quivered and paled. Twilight had settled; and you hastened along so quickly and lightly that the crickets didn’t even perceive the disturbance. 

Rest was not an option when speed is of the essence. A comrade was in need of reviving, and it was possible that trackers still ventured behind, seeking their quarry. Itachi kept a few paces behind, barely far enough back that he might make certain you didn't deviate course. Pein was likely in a foul mood already with how things progressed back in Anarchy, it was highly probable that the man didn't intend to let things spin out of control any longer. Crossing him would be unwise in this situation.

While running and leaping, letting Itachi sort-of herd you in the proper direction, your mind settled into the ether somewhere between here and nowhere; just flying along by the ends of your black tresses without a single important thought trespassing the void. Eventually you glanced over your shoulder and saw Itachi purposefully tailing close behind, and he gave no indication that he’d let you stop moving until the destination was met. Right when you began to wonder if it was safe to take a quick break for water, he redoubled his pace and you caught the gleam of his katana, and with slightly wider purple eyes, shot forth all the quicker. Why he forced you to keep on the move wasn't a complete mystery. He knew all too well that you’d linger back, still in Anarchy, watching a city fall. And there was no room for that right now. Pein would have both of your heads and Itachi would rather avoid it; especially with how tense he was over Deidara’s apparent murder of Sasori…or was it euthanasia? If so, why would such a suicide occur at all? Besides. Sasuke was still back there. And Sasuke has only made his intentions quasi-evident. For now, he was another obstacle to be avoided. Apparently, the games brought more than tests of raw power and nerve. 

Out of nowhere the branches vanished and you were free falling through a last cloud of foliage towards a waterfall, the source of which was a stream fed by the sea near former Anarchy. Itachi dropped behind you, and for now, it was a blind fall. Your ears were assailed by cascading water and rushing wind. 

You dimly perceived movement before routing chakra to your feet and landing on the shifting surface with a SPLASH, sliding along with the current, letting it carry you atop…like gliding now, leaning back so the fingertips of your right hand could touch the brilliantly cold water behind you. Your cloak and hair billowed in your wake, the river was raging downhill towards a second waterfall. This second one was the highest yet…hundreds of feet up above a collection of broken, pointed rocks. A drop that can not be survived, period, unless you know how. Itachi sprang off the water and into the woods just in time, but you shifted your weight with the current and glided on, one hand still touching the surface. You leapt, somersaulted, and landed on the opposite side of a large stone midstream. You did this a few more times before finally making contact with the falls itself. Off to the side you caught a hint of movement through the trees; Itachi, whom was still following along, watching. 

With a wild laugh you coiled the muscles of your legs and leapt as hard as you could off the falls as you met the edge. Your body straightened out, arms outstretched in a swan dive, gradually folding back against your sides, your cloak roaring in the wind, but it blurred-- as did the rest of your form in the moonlight, and you evaporated into a fog of chakra, intermingled with the cloud of chilly misted water created by the falls. Itachi bounded from one more tree, to another, and now had appeared on one of the pointed rocks in the riverbed, a foot above the rushing waters. His head turned this way and that, waiting to see where you’d reveal yourself. It was far enough away from the falls where the sound didn't crush his eardrums, but he wouldn't be able to hear tiny sounds easily either. A wind rustled his cloak and night black hair and Itachi inclined his chin and almost calmly closed his eyes, inhaling the night air. It smelled cool and fresh; like a nourishing first rain after the long death of winter. You floated everywhere and nowhere at once, admiring him for the moment where he stood out above the water, solitary and wind-blown, the moonlight illuminating the shadows over his face, and the vague mist from the falls rising just around his knees. 

In that moment, Uchiha Itachi did not exactly look like one of the most dangerous men on the planet. The urgency to place as much of the forest between yourselves and the interlopers from Konoha had passed, and he appeared serene.

You glided closer, your mist form spiraling around him at first before reforming into the womanly shape he knew, back to back with him on that same rock. You raised your head and stared up into the sky. The stars were beginning to come out, but not all had arisen from the sleepy depths of night. And the moon…it was nearly full and tinged blue. A thin, smoky veil of cloud was strewn across it, so thin that it was translucent. It was likely what made the moon so blue. Your mood drew a similar shroud over what loyalties you did have, and the words embedded deep inside threatened to spill out. And then, they did.

“Do we really have to go back?” You asked him finally. It was hard to overcome the mighty tremor of the falls even at this distance. 

Itachi lingered and turned around to face you, wrapping an arm around your middle and pulling your back to his front; something he was not always inclined to do. Prior to the trials of Anarchy, there was a palpable divide between you both. But now, it was not so.

“I don't want to.” He answered. “But we must.”

“Itachi?”

He was silent and awaiting the _real_ question, the one he sensed you'd ask eventually. You took this as a cue to continue.  
“Do you get the feeling that we aren’t being told everything?”

The man permitted a rare sigh to hush past his lips, and he appeared on the shore, the warmth of his arms leaving your middle. With a light frown you turned and followed him, continuing the journey back 'home' at a slow pace. Every step was weighted with reluctance. It was so beautiful and pristine out here. Undisturbed as it was, it could be an easy place to find a concealed spot of land and set down roots. Civilization wasn't too far off, and it'd be easy to lose curious bounty hunters in the wilderness. But going back to headquarters felt like another pale substitute for a life, at least for now. Though at first, it was an improvement, twas' getting more and more taxing to see it as such. The encounter with Sasuke left you feeling as if you knew nothing about the situation at large...not for insecurity's sake, but as a point leading to the truth. "It's true, isn't it? It has to be. We're being led on to a purpose different than the one we know."

“Of course.” He said. “We are pawns whether we wish to be or not.”  
“And pawns don’t deserve answers.” You murmured, musing.  
“Naturally.”

“Well I don't like it. I will not be a pawn!” You declared. “I’ve done too much and gone too far for that!”

Itachi was in no shape to be amused by your bravado or determination. At first he shook his head, wishing it wasn't so easy to agree, and for your faith in Pein to be so shaken. Questions and misplaced loyalties coupled with idle hands would lead both of you astray to uncertain pathways. The devil is in the details, and you were straining to have a close look. Itachi lately wondered if you'd feel the same when you learned everything. If _anyone_ would. Perhaps belatedly now he agreed, warily recalling the days where Madara pulled his strings from the shadows. Where he had been manipulated into murdering his entire clan and then was thrust headlong into Akatsuki; _all_ because of how destructive a tool the truth can be.  
With a second nod, he assented. "True of us all."

“Yeah?”

“….”

You watched him for a moment, tilting your head, and sunk low into the high collar of your cloak. Itachi carried about him now a forbidding silence like a barrier. He did not wish to speak of it any longer. The conversation was done before it got very far; and worst of all, you didn't get why. Nor would you either, unless he planned on opening up more. If nothing else, it was evident that you tugged a nerve or at least triggered some unpleasant memories.  
This would be simpler if you knew Itachi's real history. Hell, you knew very little about anyone in this _group_. Everyone clings to their secrets as if they'd be naked without them. And of course no one likes to let their guard down. So they weave traps for one another. Sometimes they fail, and that failure becomes blatantly apparent, like with Deidara and Sasori. Then you plotted against Sasori in turn, and would have used him against Deidara. Sasori smelled blood in the water and found a way to alert Deidara so you might be thwarted before anything came of your plans. It was a succession of awesomely bad failures. Recently, Akatsuki was doing little more than cleaning up messes. Their _own_ messes, at that.

For awhile there, a couple of men would go missing, and would never speak up as to what happened when they returned with wounds that needed mending. You were forced to heal them and not goad them with questions. It was a theme since day one in Akatsuki for you; the very first time it happened, you wrestled with your curiosity and simply continued your job however you must. Why was it that these men, renown as beings of tremendous skill and power, would on occasion return grievously injured? It was not _always_ due to skirmishes with jinchuuriki.  
What else was there? Espionage? They can’t have been the stealthiest of spies if they were getting _hurt_. There could be other operations being carried out, or perhaps Pein was managing to hire some of the group out for mercenary work. A good sellsword is difficult to come by, top notch ones are even harder to find. Interested parties would pay handsomely for their services. 

And Tobi was the worst of all. Typically, he was not the one injured but when he was, it was badly. Usually you didn’t see Orange-kun around these days. If it wasn’t for the tournament you suspected strongly that you might’ve missed him for a solid two months or so. Come to think on it, Tobi always referred to Deidara as ‘sempai’ too, and this was peculiar unless he merely respected the blond. Given many of his actions, that was not so likely; and additionally it was mentioned that the masked man was the new guy until you happened along. Considering this fact, would one of the newer members of Akatsuki be sent out on such dangerous missions…alone? _All the time?_ At least _you_ had an excuse, and you never truly have been on your own. Once when going after Orochimaru, Sasori and Deidara had been sent to tail you; and make sure that things didn't go awry. But Tobi regularly vanishes without a partner as far as you could tell. 

It became increasingly obvious. Something is amiss. 

 

_Meanwhile…_

 

Pein was alone in the room where subordinates usually arrived to recite their reports for his convenience. It was dark as usual, with nearly no light offered. He sat down, eyes already adjusted, and looked up in time for Tobi to walk right in unannounced. Pein settled back in his seat and affixed the masked man with a flat stare, wondering what brought him here so soon.

“Were I you,” Tobi began, all childishness gone. “I’d keep an eye on my student, because I have heard her thoughts, and she is getting too suspicious. Suspicion leads to curiosity. And curiosity costs too much."

Pein chose his words carefully. “I am watching over her. There is little I can do to stop her from coming to conclusions of her own.”

“Surely you can do better than this.” Tobi sneered. 

“Madara, I have done all that you asked me to. As a result she has become much stronger. Now I cannot simply manipulate her thoughts without her realization.” 

“Is that _so_.” Madara/Tobi stated, eye narrowing. “Find a way. Plant ideas in her head if you must, but for fuck’s sake Pein, do what must be done until her 'training' is finished. No matter how painful it can be."

“Are you quite finished?” Pein inquired, tone clipped and businesslike. There was no sense in letting this prick realize he could get under his skin if he tried harder. There was a hesitation spanning moments long. They stared one another down, neither man budging a millimeter, both of them equal parts agitated and dour. But Uchiha relented, seeing that he adequately made his point. “For now.” Madara said, and then was gone from the room.

Pein released a long, pent-up breath. _Training_ indeed…more like 'conditioning'. He had to make you think a certain way. But little did Madara know (so far), that Pein was not doing all he had asked, not to the proper extent. He was not shaping you into the tool that Madara wished to have at his disposal. Instead, he was risking his own neck and going a different way. Never before had Nagato Pein gone against Madara’s wishes or been as disrespectful as he was being nowadays. It was beyond dangerous to act as such. But come hell or high water, he'd break free of Madara's command, and this was his way out.

But aside from that, Pein knew that Madara’s plans involving you were going to fall flat. 

Ever since _you_ 'fell flat' for Itachi, that is.

 

_With You…_

 

You were looking down at Sasori’s corpse in the room that was set up for medical use—a clinic, basically. The evidence of your failure was staring you in the face with closed eyelids. Jashin, what had happened to this man? You were blinking at a debacle. He was burnt horribly but otherwise intact, riddled primarily with third degree burns, and a fourth-degree scorch mark clear over his heart where the bomb he would've used made contact. Sasori would've suffered quite a lot before he died--and, already, Deidara had explained it away as a 'spirited' sparring session gone badly wrong. But credit must be given where it is due. Dei is a messy killer, and was extremely cautious about this, showing a degree of restraint. But believe it or not, the burns had nothing on the havoc you wreaked amongst Sasori’s innards by planting some of your own life energy in him.

It had literally corroded him on the inside, and the damage did not end at his organs; but damaged his chakra network as well. You began healing him in your ghost form first. It was nothing special. But the body must be useable by the spirit. At current it was not. This took a long time…way too long. After three hours you were done with that, and Deidara turned up. He crossed his arms and leaned in the door, watching you severely.

“What, Deidara?”

He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. “Wanted to make sure you don’t pull a fast one, hn.”

Your head went up and you both made eye contact. He was shrewd and irate and every bit of him told you that he knew you had been the cause of this mess. “Oh?" Was your simplistic response; and now that you were done healing him, smirked. “I’ve been unsupervised up until now, you know.”

His grimace was automatic. “If you did it again so will I, hn.”

“Yes yes, you are utterly devoted to his well being. How touching. But we shall see, Deidara.” You retorted dryly from where you were now painting seals of blood on Sasori's mended skin. If this was going to be their play every time they thought you tried to pull one over on them, it wasn't worth it. So congratulations, they won this round. Having finished the blood seals, you progressed to the next phase and warned him of it. “Now be quiet, loudmouth, or I’ll summon his soul into _your_ body.” Immediately thereafter you thought, with a suppressed a grin, _’Like it isn’t crowded in there already between you yourself and that ego.’_

You made handseals and closed your eyes, concentrating on extracting Sasori's soul from the void. It was easy to make contact with him, and he reacted quickly.

Then, immediately thereafter…

_[What do you want now, wench?]_

Well. It's good to know that you found the right one, to be certain.

 __  
Sasori said nothing to you after that and his soul, in a rush of luminous wind from absolutely nowhere, was dragged back into his body. Sasori’s lungs expanded and he began coughing hard from the shock of his body operating once again. You ambled over to a sink and poured him a glass of water, then came back and gave it to him.  
“Drink it slowly…no don’t look at me that way, it’s not poisoned. It came from the tap.”

He sipped at the water, propping himself up on one elbow, his light brown eyes raised over the rim of the glass, focused on you as if to make sure you didn't try anything. But instead, you were washing your hands, and turned off the tap. “There. You’re clean, you’re alive, and most of all…you’re _even_.” You informed the two men, and motioned to the door after drying your hands. It was blown open by a slight of chakra and you made a limp-wristed ‘shoo, shoo’ gesture. “Now be gone.”

You turned your back on them once more; dismissing both men as though they weren’t there. Sasori took down the rest of his water and glanced at Deidara while you poked around the confines of this room, checking on where various things are for future reference. Sasori got up and left the room, but Deidara lingered before going as well, his narrowed blue eye glaring daggers at your back. You were bitter and unreasonable right now. Things were complicated when you had to keep thinking on your feet even when you were amongst ‘comrades’. It is hard to find rest in such a situation at home. You had been tense lately, the mental vacation wasn’t as relaxing as it should have been, and you desperately wanted to find a place where you could finally just let your guard down and relax those muscles. Even when sitting around watching TV in Anarchy, all you could think about was sexual tension, and ‘work’. And it was bound to get worse.

Now especially, at headquarters, you and Itachi would probably get zero time to yourselves…although, it wasn’t as though you both openly agreed to a relationship. It sort of cultivated on its own. And it was going places sure enough. But now, here? How would that continue? 

You turned the light off and exited the clinic, and decided to blow off some steam in the training room. But training only calmed your thoughts into straighter rationale. Now you were considering other things. Like vengeance. But not for yourself. Although the thought occurred at first, you were driven to wondering what makes a person crave vengeance towards those who have caused them a grievance. What if that person is dead, and your anger is misplaced? Doesn’t that technically mean that vengeance against that person cannot be obtained?

The reason why you thought of it, as you destroyed one Saiya clone after another, was because of Sasuke. Sasuke wanted to have you on his side, and while you thought you knew his reasons, it wasn't a certainty. What really drove him? He wanted revenge. Others were similarly driven by it.  
Even you, back then, you killed your family and village…swift vengeance for what they tried to do, and would’ve succeeded if Pein, as your sensei, hadn’t planted dark thoughts in your head from a young age. 

You killed one last clone and stared at the spot it had been in. 

Pein. 

Why did he so suddenly appear in your life when you were small? Better yet; why did such an epic shinobi as himself agree to train you? Up until his appearance your training had been spotty, yes. And were forced to fit in with a group of other ninja aspirants at a young age. Then it dawned on you.

Those very people…they were in the prison down below. They might still be alive now. Back when you interrogated a man and his pregnant wife, you stumbled across one of your former team mates on the way through. Pein had said that no one who knew any of your inner workings could be permitted to walk free. You said you didn’t care and would have killed them if they were around when you left 'home'. 

Pein. The Grass Nation. Gyaku Clan. Revenge. Uchiha Clan. Revenge. Akatsuki. The Bijuu. Ninja Wars. Resurrection. Poison. Revenge. Revenge. Revenge. Hatred. Fear. Death.

None of them were just words. They held meaning. They were relevant key words. But how are they arranged?  
You shook your head and blinked, wide eyed, at your surroundings. Were you going _insane_? Maybe squaring with your past was the way to go to clear your mind after all. Now that you remembered a fragment existed, it could be the cure to your tension and you’d be better for it. But you needed to ask first, so you sought Pein out. 

As you turned to walk out, a raven flapped by with a shrill cry, and your eyes widened in shock. You turned around to follow its path and saw nothing but trees all around; and ravens swarming to the sky. You moved in place, rotating to see that you were now in the middle of a vast forest. You recognized the trees though. They populated Konoha thickly.

“WHY?!” You shouted out, and expected an answer. But no one was visible. Just you and the ravens.

 _’A place to think.’_ Itachi’s voice echoed. _’You are lost in thought.’_

“How long have you been here?” You called, turning around, looking to find him, but still not seeing him. The ravens stormed away, black feathers shimmering through the air with a sheen of blue gleaming against their blackness, luminescent like starling’s feathers. There was no response now.

“Itachi?!” You tried again. “What is the MEANING of this?!” You looked around, then went to a tree and leapt up to the top. What you saw would horrify the weak of heart.

The very sky was a Mangekyou…a shifting, evil vortex. You looked around and saw forest stretching in all directions with no end in sight. “ITACHI!” You screamed furiously. It echoed across the wilderness, and branches rustled as if in a wind. The ravens had even vanished, and down below, their feathers still drifted like black leaves.

There was a ripple of silken laughter in your mind. _’Lost in thought.’_ He repeated.

“I know that already!” You fumed.

_’Come find me, Saiya.’_

You faltered before yelling once more and looked up at the sky. It was his way of seeing everywhere at once maybe. A gargantuan Mangekyou vortex inverted into the sky. You looked down at your ring. 

‘Sky’. 

Heh. Not as though it mattered. You leapt down and started walking around the vast trunks of trees, ignoring the dark feathers that floated continuously to the ground. Running wouldn’t help right now. In an illusion with no one to help you but yourself, you needed all your strength and wit. How long had you been going now? Walking on and on, and seemingly the same trees multiplied. The feathers continued to shimmer in the air and fill in spaces on the ground, but they made no noise underfoot. The whole forest was eerily silent and still, the air close and intimate. As if countless secrets were being kept here. 

_’You cannot find even yourself in here.’_ Itachi's voice remarked placidly, if not a touch pensively.

“Where’s ‘here’?”

_’Your thoughts.’_

“This isn’t some kind of ridiculous philosophy lecture is it?” You grumbled.

_’You are thinking too much. The answers are in front of you.’_

“Why is it that people who always _know_ can’t _fucking_ spit it out!?” You demanded. 

A solemn sensation flooded you. _’Come find me, Saiya.’_ He bade again.  
The solemn feeling made you calm and grounded. It seemed as thought he could influence emotion in a positive way through his genjutsu as well. For perhaps the second time ever, Itachi was playing mind games with a good purpose in mind.

You tried to sort your thoughts. And guarded against him for the moment, to allow yourself to privately think one thing in particular.  
 _‘Is this his way of asking…if my head and my heart has a place for him, or…if it’s all consumed by…’_ It was interrupted. He gently forced away your cobbled mental wall and you stopped thinking it, having stunned yourself.  
 _’Do not hide from me.’_ He whispered, so quietly you had to strain to hear him, a chill rippling over your nerves. Itachi had an undisputable titanic grip on you. He could not be shaken in his own realm. You could not stop Itachi from anything. He would shape this place to suit his whims, and while it was currently benign, the landscape could turn deadly at a moments notice.

So for now you began walking again and when it began to feel as if you'd been here for an eternity. You stopped trying to keep track of time altogether and merely walked, letting your mind go blank and serene at last instead of spitting out inquiries. After all, it was impossible to make any kind of change in here and leave markers to find your way. Your only power was to move, so that's exactly what you did. It took so long to bury through the layers, layers, _billions_ of layers of training and thoughts and years of memories to get there. But your feet were taking you somewhere that your heart instinctively knew without telling.  
You began to run, and leapt into the tree branches, moving freely from one to another until you began to hear water running. The water was very loud…it was a waterfall. Before long you had broken through the treeline and found a blue moon up ahead, enshrouded in thin clouds, and a wide stream riddled with rocks. Towering high overhead was a familiar waterfall.

Itachi was standing on a rock amidst the moving waters. He had an arm slung casually in the crook of his sleeve and turned to see you. When he moved, the waters halted and flattened to become glass. Even the waterfall was an immense unmoving pillar of crystal. Up above, the sky was no longer red and all was washed in tranquil blue, but you thought that there were three tomoe swirling above instead of the shuriken-shaped Mangekyou…just, without the crimson this time. Itachi moved towards the shore, and stood in waist-high grass by the trees. Your mind was blank still, gripped by instinct only, and it drove you towards him. When you got to him, your arms found his waist and you clung to him, burying your face in his chest, and inhaled. He smelled good…familiar, and good. The sense that he was satisfied with the answer he received to his unspoken question permeated throughout the entire illusion. Inexplicably, it felt wonderful. You were jolted to your senses when he let gravity take you both backwards into the deep grass.

“I have a goal of my own.” Itachi said, his voice now close to an ear. “I have held it for quite awhile now. But you, Saiya…you must find one of your own. Without a drive as you are, they will crush you.”

“They…” You drawled thickly and lazily, and nestled against his chest. One hand gathered a fistful of his cloak. “Who's ‘they’?”

“Those who want to use you.” After his words the water was real again. The sky was normal. Wind breathed through the forest, and your ears were filled with the sounds of nature, and Itachi’s breathing and heartbeat, which one ear was against. You lifted your head up and looked around. Itachi had one arm behind his head, and the other was resting around your lower back. What happened? How did you get here when you had been to the hideout already?  
Your lifted your hand up, the one you had pinched for blood. It was untouched. There was no bloody mark there. Your eyebrows furrowed. What the hell was the meaning of this?

Quickly, it dawned on you, whilst Itachi had placed a hand under your cloak and shirt and was now running the edges of his blunt painted nails down the hair-thin scar along your spine…slowly, and surely, causing you to shiver. You clung to his body, your thighs hugging his sides now. 

“We never went to headquarters did we Itachi? Sasori isn’t alive.”

“We did not go.” He said, then added. “Sasori _is_ alive.”

“How is that possible right now?” You gaped. 

A short laugh, slightly bitter in nature. “Saiya, I did what I did to prove to you that you are much more powerful than yourself or the others know. You brought Sasori back to life by imposing your will upon him. As far as you knew, it was all real. As such, it happened in reality. But Sasori and the others are not aware of the truth of this occurrence, because as a ghost only did you do it, while your body has been here with me.” He narrowed his eyes, choosing to bridge into a stickier topic. “My brother said that ‘You are not ready.’ And you were not then.”

You could scarcely breathe. What he said was all _real?_ How can that be? Itachi was saying that he had facilitated this? That he…was…well, was this more training? What's more, is he admitting that he knows what Sasuke really wants? That he could answer all your questions about what this entire shitstorm was really all about? Drawing a strangely steady breath, your fingers tightened uneasily on the handful of fabric they grasped. There was a peculiar sense of anxiety that you couldn't rightly place. “Am I…am I ready now, Itachi?” 

“There is one more thing you should do to see if you are.”

“And then?”

A silence.  
“Then…yes. You will be ‘ready’.”


	30. Issues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Occasionally, you must be cruel to be kind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rhi: WHEW!!! Took me long enough huh? Sorry about that guys! I meant to have this done sooner, but some things have been going on and it's been crazy for me lately, more so than usual. Thanks for the reads, kudos and reviews. :3 Be wary, this chapter has some heavy spoilers. Again I will reiterate that this was written before Shippuden was as far along in its seasons as it is now.
> 
> ** NOTICE: Due to a situation beyond my control (no, not financial) I will most likely be without internet for around 3 months, maybe even longer unless things change. I HAVE been working on the chapters; I actually wanted to get more than one edited this time around so that I could post up a couple at once, except life has been more insane than usual so I haven't had much of a chance to do any writing. That being said, even if I'm without internet; I won't be without my computer, so I'll be able to continue working on these. Once I'm able to get online; I'll put up a whole bunch of chapters for all to read, if all goes well. ^^ I realize I tend to wait a long time between posting chapters, and I'm sorry for that. As always, thank you guys for the reads, reviews and kudos. <3 **

Issues

 

Headquarters wasn't far away. You remembered how long it had taken 'before', when under Itachi's influence...and what profoundly powerful influence it'd been! Your were turning that concept over and over in your head. Each part of it had been false, correct? Yet the more you tried to bring yourself back through that memory, the more you realized that this fact held a lot more truth than you thought. You hadn’t felt a thing through your fingertips, did not feel air breathed into your lungs. The bite to your index finger no longer stung on account of its nonexistence. The reality of it was that ever since Itachi made eye contact with you at the stream, standing together atop that stone; you had been locked in a genjutsu. But it wasn't an ordinary one, and you were fairly sure his eyes had been normal at a glance.

Itachi was either highly certain this would work, or he ventured quite a gamble. He made your mind play against itself harmlessly; allowing you to see what was expected. And you had _expected_ , for example, to see Itachi walking with you to HQ. You had not, however, known a clinic to exist at headquarters. Likewise, you'd never been in Sasori’s bedroom and didn’t even know what it looked like. But that's where the corpse was placed upon a plastic sheet so he didn’t bloody the linens. So that is where you had to go. Except Itachi made you see another room in its stead. After all, Sasori has been a point of tension and it was _in_ one of his rooms that the redheaded ingrate chose to stake his baseless claim when first revived. Bearing this in mind, Itachi decided it was wiser to put you in a setting which would induce less tension, that he may maintain control over the situation and continue influencing the genjutsu as needed. While you may not know what Sasori's room looked like, you'd know it if you saw it, and it was due to that likelihood that Itachi decided to err on the side of caution. 

But this peculiar simulation wasn't without additional risk, where your mind would continually layer on expectations. With the turn of events in Anarchy, you expected Deidara to involve himself. In the genjutsu, he did. In reality, you didn’t know if he had, and it wasn't so prevalent in your thoughts to where you'd ask. Above all, overshadowing every other curiosity and worry, the whole ordeal almost frightened you. How was Itachi capable of triggering your Ghost Aspect and guiding you into the Akatsuki base? Did you become his puppet, like Sasori once wanted? Hopefully not...you _like_ Itachi; this situation didn't upset you in quite the same way, but it was still an uncomfortable notion. His hold upon your mind had been firm yet gentle, and he did not aim to injure you in any way.

Since you still needed to learn how to shield your thoughts, Itachi heard you.  
_’I forced nothing. You did only what you knew had to be done, Saiya…that means that you continued on in the only way you could when your body wasn’t able to move. There was no way you could have realized it.’_

You flinched and cast a guilty stare in the opposite direction, sinking lower into your cloak. Transparent. You were too fucking transparent right now.

“Itachi, others keep saying ‘I’m not ready’. And I went with it because I thought an answer would present itself.” You lifted your head and turned your frown upon him. “Except it isn’t the case. I am still in the dark and nothing is adding up." After a pause, you smoothed away some hair, urging aside the dark strays from obscuring vision in your left eye. "I mean...we spoke briefly of it not long ago, but I get the impression that everybody else has a different idea of what they're looking for. And besides, who the hell are they to make designs on my future, anyway?"

He was quiet for a long few minutes, as is his custom before answering. Never in a rush; Itachi typically took a moment to organize his thoughts. More and more, it seemed that he always had a decent answer. Perhaps this was owing to his lack of haste, that is to say nothing of his smarts. “Our current suspicion is that my brother wants to use you to bring back the Uchiha Clan, as you know. I am not certain, but I can guess that he is waiting to see how many people you can resurrect at once. Or merely what you are capable of. It isn't easy to say precisely what he wants, but it's likely that whatever he has in mind isn't good for you.”  
Your frowned deepened. “Right, but to bring back your long dead family? What sense does that make? They've been gone for so long now." Your brow creased, managing to make that frown carve deeper into your features, and stared ahead at the path. "Plus, if he wants them to be reborn properly he won’t rush it by having them all brought back at once. I understand most normal people would miss their families, but this is extreme. It took me _days_ to bring back a handful of men as it is. But an entire clan?"

Itachi’s black eyes were set foreword on the path as well. But he stopped walking and you did too, three paces ahead of him, and turned to see what the holdup was.

“Saiya, how much do you know about Tobi?”

You blinked out of your frown. This question fell wholly from the blue, but surely he had a reason for bringing that cheery pumpkin-faced fool up. Upon consideration, you realized that you didn't have a good answer to Itachi's question. “Ah...nothing much, now that I think about it. Only that he’s always out and about, but I get the impression he knows more about everything than he’s letting on. It's hard to get a read on somebody who doesn't trust others with his face.”

Itachi’s expression was stony and unmovable. He was becoming more and more businesslike by the second. “His real name is Uchiha Madara. Do you know it?”

“Sounds quite familiar, actually. But I confess that I don't know why." The frown returned with less severity, tugging your eyebrows down ever-so slightly. Itachi had turned cold by the mention of this name and that was nothing to sneeze at. But you didn't live in the Leaf, so he couldn't rightly expect you to know everything. Madara's name spread far and wide but how much was told varied from region to region. In the Grass Nation, you never heard much about the infamous Uchiha Madara while growing up, considering how the family was interested in keeping you separate from the ninja world for as long as humanely possible. Until you reached the age where they couldn't utterly ignore your insistence, that is. But nevertheless, your knowledge of this name was very poor. And Itachi was not about to give a history lesson involving many people whom you wouldn’t know about. He simplified it instead. “For now what you need to know is that he was one of the first of my clan to obtain the Mangekyou. Madara has done much in the history of the world, and my clan. What matters to you _now_ , Saiya, is that he is the one telling your sensei what to do. Madara is pulling all the strings under the guise of an idiot.”

You were stuck in place. This news was big, but it promised to carry so much more weight than this. There must be more to know…volumes more. Things that Pein knew and hadn’t told you. “Orange….kun…?” You muttered under your breath, tone riddled with uncertainty. “How can it be? Tobi? He has two left feet and ten thumbs! He's an absolute imbecile at the best of times, how is it possible that such a man could pretend to be like that at all? Wouldn't he think it beneath him?”

“There are few so convincing as the guise of the fool. But for now, it matters little.” Itachi voiced, hollow sounding. 

You bit your lower lip, worry nagging your features. “Why are you telling me this _now_ of all times, Itachi?”

“Because it has come to my attention that Madara is after Sasuke, whom plans to use you. And I have reason to believe that Madara is waiting for Sasuke to take his vengeance on me, and remove me altogether.”

“But Akatsuki _needs_ you don’t we!?” You asked, alarmed and brightly concerned. This is unacceptable, he can't die!! The idea made your gut writhe…with sickness, sadness or fury or some necrotic mix of the three, you couldn’t tell which. 

Itachi bowed his head and shook with stifled laughter. You were wide eyed and intent, and seeing this behavior, your hands balled into fists and you stomped on the ground childishly. “Don’t sit there and giggle to yourself! Itachi! It isn’t FUNNY!!!” He stopped and looked up at you. The killer that always peered through those eyes was not _gone_ per se, but now he realized that the very same killer in those eyes was still a woman; one just as capable of cruelty as she was of kindness. It's just harder to see, with all your dark deeds eclipsing a handful of graces. He has glimpsed this other facet of your personality on and off, but normally it was concealed and easy to forget.

In that instance, he was stuck.  
So there was now one who truly cared?

After all these years, through this winter of hatred which engulfed him...Itachi, the man who massacred his own family…someone had grown to… _care?_ Who would actually miss him if he died? Not someone who liked his body, his cold and detached attitude, his finesse as a shinobi. It was that you didn’t want him to get _hurt_. And he saw that now for what it was. You weren’t being perverted or physical, but upset and concerned for his well being. Of the handful of people who knew him personally in the world, most would rather him be gone. And the one he couldn't slaughter, couldn't force himself to raise a hand against...his little brother, Sasuke...wanted to kill Itachi more than _anyone_. And Itachi made it so. When he couldn't slay this one child, he instead decided to sharpen the boy into an avenger, whose thirst for vengeance became so great it now exceeded Itachi's expectations. Sasuke's hatred reached the point that it was greatly out of hand, and was twisting him in vile ways. The little brother Itachi loved was almost unrecognizable. It wouldn't be long before that part of him was fully dead. But in the end, Itachi had resigned himself to fate, and knew that his time would soon arise to see the end of his plan through. But he met a woman, who Leader brought into Akatsuki. He got close to her. To _you_. This wasn't supposed to happen at all!

Well, isn't that a bitch? Now he had one factor he did not input into his meticulously balanced calculations. He couldn't possibly have been able to predict everything the world can come up with.

After a thickening silence, you spoke up, eyes bright with both agitation and hurt. The poker face doesn't belong here. This man isn't your enemy, and he could see straight through you anyway. "Is that what this is about, Itachi?” You bit out harshly. “You’re not going to let this happen are you? Because what I'm getting out of this is that Madara and Sasuke want to kill you. Why? Why would they, because of the massacre? Is that _all?_ They fucking _lived_ , they should be grateful!”

“No Saiya, that’s not it at all.” Itachi responded, voice heavy and grave. He was watching you carefully. Gauging your reactions. 

“I know it isn’t.” You said bitterly, victoriously. “I can see it in your head.” You tapped your forehead. “You planned all this crap out right? Someone like you doesn’t join Akatsuki for no reason. No one does. Konan told me that from day one…I guess I’m the only idiot here with no goals of my own. No reason; like you, or them.” He made to speak but you held up a hand and cut him off. “Say nothing more. You tricked me into doing what I did earlier. Now it’s my turn.” You made eye contact with him, walking forth and piercing his onyx spheres with your amethyst ones. You were going through his mind. The events, one that led to another, to another. It went on and on, all the machinations in his head, the endless equations. The knowledge of how to utilize the Sharingan…memories of his childhood. Of Sasuke. Of growing up, and dealing with relentless fans. Even sexual fantasies were stuck in there carelessly, like articles of clothing discarded upon a chair, because he believed such things weren't bound to happen with his current lifestyle. 

It didn’t matter to you that he was pulling you along through those memories, to show you what he needed to show you rather than explaining until he was blue in the face. You saw how he was when he was younger…when he was growing up in the Uchiha Compound. Sasuke was always asking him to train; to goof off and play around instead of doing homework. Itachi might playfully brush him off, always flicking him in the forehead and saying, ‘Another time’ after giving the kid false hope, but never in a mean-spirited fashion. But his kid brother was one thing, whereas the others of Itachi's family was another. His father was as spiteful and cold as he was skilled with blade and flame, his spine held rigid by tradition and honor. And the mother; a nag hell bent on Itachi keeping up with his studies and training, but otherwise loving and gentle, with a stern hand. As for the rest of the clan? They were alienated from Konoha. Forced to the outskirts of the Hidden Leaf, and kept under close surveillance in their own compound. Yet the Hidden Leaf continued to use the Uchihas to patrol pathways and act as peacekeepers where they must. 

As he led you from memory to memory you learned that Itachi was the pipeline from ANBU to the Clan. And vice versa; a double agent. The memories altered from flowing easily into one another to snapshots of the whole story which arrived in bursts.

FLASH.

One night, Itachi was venturing out into the woods. He was making certain that he wasn’t followed.  
Then he met with a man in an orange swirled mask: Tobi. Or rather, Madara.  
They made a deal.

FLASH.  
Itachi was receiving orders from ANBU. After that, he went home and got into an argument with his father and some clansmen. 

FLASH.  
You were waiting for this one. Itachi was settled crouched atop a telephone pole, kunai clutched between his teeth; and then he sprang down and began the slaughter. Did not take him long to work his way to his parents room. He downed his mother and father effortlessly, they were practically helpless...an unsuspecting couple who were trying to fall asleep for the night. But the commotion was enough to waken the last living target, and a younger Sasuke entered. The boy was scared, tearful, and demanded answers. Itachi Tsukiyomi’d him briefly and easily, then spoke to him. Told his brother to run for his life, and grow to hate him. And then, one day, 'come before me with the same eye that I possess.’  
Even then Itachi had obtained the Mangekyou.

Or that's how he made it look to the boy.

Immediately after the first telling of this scenario, it paused like a recording, unfurling back to the beginning. Instead of Itachi being alone in his grim task, Madara was there. Madara partook in the slaughter, but as per their agreement he left Sasuke out of it. He would take his leave as young Sasuke arrived to see his big brother standing over the corpses of his parents. Using Tsukiyomi drove the final nail in the coffin, as did Itachi's acting skills. Sasuke believed all of it, that his brother bore sole responsibility for the murder of their whole family. He was too young and the ruse was skillfully played out. 

FLASH.  
Itachi was kneeling before the Hokage in the red and black of Akatsuki.  
It was then that he asked the Hokage that Sasuke not know the truth of him. This would be Itachi's chosen punishment: for his dear brother Sasuke to one day take up this burgeoning hatred as a weapon and slay him with it.

You opened your eyes and Itachi was nose to nose with you, his eyes now half lidded and tranquil. He seemed almost relieved to have let you know his truth. But he wasn’t done.

“I joined Akatsuki for the promise that they would not touch Konoha.” He breathed, as if he had literally been running through every memory, maybe even to get away from them. Then again, perhaps not. Itachi is no coward. You maintained eye contact with him. “So you’re stalling them wherever possible?”

“Yes.” He confirmed softly.  
It made sense that they’d want to get rid of him. Itachi was actually a thorn in the side of the organization. But he had pulled his weight and assisted them too. It also made sense that he dawdled on capturing Naruto Uzumaki; his assigned Jinchuuriki, when that very bijuu was held by the Hidden Leaf and Itachi was now revealed as a man who still cared for his nation, whether or not he'd gone rogue. Uchiha Itachi had shouldered a ponderous burden— _alone._

“Now comes the time, Saiya, when you decide whose side you are on.” Itachi said next, still very quiet, contemplative; as though waiting for a loosed guillotine to come whistling down its rack to his bared throat. He was tense but trying not to show it. “Many are after you. Each person has their own goals.” As an afterthought, he said, “Would you stay by me, one who has committed those crimes? Would you stand by your teacher, or those who became your friends? Or do you have the wherewithal to form your own ‘side' and avoid being taken by those who would use you?”

“Enough.”

He tilted his head slightly and watched you curiously. He could tell you were still upset. It was a lot to take in. Too much in one sitting, perhaps. Now you wished that the sparring you did with those clones earlier had been real. But the ideas you came across during that time were real enough. And aside from that you had more reason to speak with Pein, admittedly it was basically the same as earlier. There were just a few more questions now. It was hard to admit quietly to yourself, that you were here because others had plans for you. Why else would you have been drawn in? But now it couldn't be ignored. It was time for answers.

“I have to sort this out.” You told him. “I guess in the back of my head, I knew I wasn't here for no reason. But I refused to face it, that I got brought into this for somebody else's benefit. And that Teach--I mean, Pein, made me forget all those memories of training for a damned good reason he has declined to share. On one hand, I am warned of treacherous people who have made plans on my behalf. But I still know next to nothing.” Your mouth tightened with disapproval at the concept, now heading in the direction of 'home'. “ _Pein_ owes me an explanation now whether he agrees to it or not. If I have to knock it out of him, so be it. He can find out firsthand how I’ve improved.” You paused to eye Itachi over your shoulder. “These people who have become a name, not just a face, need to learn that not all of us can be so easily manipulated. Doesn’t matter who the fuck they think they are or what they’ve done in the past. There’s always a better, and a worse. If that means I need to make it my goal in life to surpass whoever I must to set things right…then so be it. I don’t exactly have magic eyes. I don’t have a giant sword, or a legion of ninja at my beck and call. And I may have the world against me in the end.” While thinking about it, you bit your lower lip unnecessarily hard, nearly drawing blood. The more you said, the worse it sounded. But now you understood why certain people do the harebrained things they do. Because what most would call a 'suicide mission' wound up being the only recourse.

“It's a fool's errand. But I must do this because no one's going to do it for me. The answers will not drop from the sky. I won't one day awake and find it was a dream. Itachi, you had to make a decision which you could live with. I know now that in the future, I'll need to do the same. It's only a matter of when.” 

This being said, you sprang foreword again and ran for headquarters, thinking, _’And I don’t exactly give a shit about right and wrong. That helps.’_

 

_Later…_

 

The corridors were dimly lit and easy on the eyes. You were thankful since you currently dealt with the brunt of a throbbing headache that stabbed angrily into your brain from the left temple. You didn’t have a pain in the head like that when you entered the lair, but someone had punched you in the head from around a corner and was gone in a flash before you could react. You barely caught sight of a golden ponytail.

Clearly it was Deidara, but there were bigger things to be concerned with so he could get away with that cheap hit-and-run strike for now. The ball was in your court now, except it had to wait. You had more pressing matters at hand, in mind, and a low current of eerie, cold, creeping hate was washing over your innards, galvanizing you. Whom you sought was the man who taught you. Sure enough, the door to the usual ‘audience chamber’ (that’s what it seemed like) was ajar, but the one you wanted was not within. Instead, the figure turned and you saw an orange shape floating above the floor, and in the darkness barely noted the red clouds curling along the folds of his cloak.

“You’re not the one I want.” You grunted. 

But Tobi did not move, and you sensed that something was a bit off about him this time. Hell; you felt that way since you first met him…Tobi had _always_ been exceedingly interested in your comings and goings whenever he could involve himself. You tilted your head a little, watching him, and when he was still silent, you said, “I want to talk to Pein-sensei. Have you seen him?”

“He is not in the building.”

Whoa, red flag! His speech was altered, less childish. And so far, there were no comments made from the third person, which he often resorted to for any response whatsoever.

“…Tobi, what…?”

“I believe you know my real name by now, Saiya.” 

You stared unblinkingly, stymied. Right now when he seemed to be concentrated on only you, it felt as though a hole was being burnt through your being. A hot coal of apprehension dropped into the pit of your belly and smoldered, but your face relaxed into neutrality.

“After all, you’ve come a long way. I offer credit where it’s due…but part of that is accrediting Itachi as well as Pein.” Against your will, surprise registered, you _heard_ that smirk in his voice. “Oh yes. Yes, I know what you did. You brought Deidara back to life without physically touching him.” His lone red eye narrowed mockingly. “As I've said, you have come a long way. My congratulations.”

“What the fuck is this all about, Madara?” You asked while trying to keep your temper in check. Another coal dropped into your stomach, burning hotter than the first. This was bad news. You found out about the truth of this man so recently, and quite as recently he realize that his cover was blown. Either Itachi double-crossed you--which was not a possibility--or he had spies. Or he'd been following you both himself.

“Hasn’t it struck you as odd?” Madara went on to say casually. “That Pein, the sole living bearer of the Rinnegan went to the Grass of all places to find one small child out of many? Surely there were others who far exceeded your skill at that age, he could’ve chosen anyone as his apprentice. But oh no, he went straight to you…how would he know to do that, Saiya? And to think…of all the various shinobi, he chose one who would specialize as a Medic! It makes little to no sense, does it not?”

You had forced yourself to assume the same emotionless façade you would in battle before now. Tobi…no, Madara, had rapidly metamorphosed into an enemy, more so than earlier. The threat was heightened. Another coal landed beside the first two, but you contained you tension, keeping your posture relaxed. He was winding up for something, and crazy people who speak in riddles are hardly amusing.

“Why can’t you speak plainly?” You inquired.

Madara started to laugh and you got to watch him titter like a schoolgirl for three minutes. 

_’My god, Lord Jashin, he’s madder than I am!’_

 

“Why can’t you see?! You were predicted to be the next Gyaku Prodigy, and you are! A person literally born to excel at whatever they do, one born so resilient they can become anything, do _anything_! No one knows why or how, if it is a curse or a blessing…you, Gyaku Saiya, have been taken and made great!”

“MY GOD!” You shouted, and he lapsed into silence, watching you intently. “Shut the fuck up already!” 

“Are you even the same man?! Tobi?! This makes no sense! You say one thing and then another! First you say you knew I'd become a medic, but you can't have POSSIBLY gathered that when you say yourself that I could've excelled at anything!!!"

“Tobi was a ruse.” Madara admitted coldly. "And if you can't figure this out, perhaps you aren't as bright as I thought, _girl_."

You ignored the last part. “Be that as it may, since when did the legendary Uchiha Madara succumb to absolute madness? Why the hell do you need me at all?"

“It is not madness. The proof is before me.” Madara shot back, smugly. “Now, listen to me Saiya, and listen well.” With a slight of hand the door behind you had slammed shut, and you didn’t trouble to look at it. No, you kept your eyes on the enemy. “It is I whom will direct you from now on. Your beloved sensei is a middle man. A puppet, if you will, who obeys my orders. And you will do the same.”

It was as though each function in your body ground to a halt in that moment. Hot apprehension ebbed away and your blood plunged to subzero, congealing with a hate so wretched it must have become tangible in the air surrounding you.

“You will go to Sasuke and accept his offer. From there you will discover where he has hidden his captured jinchuuriki….and also sabotage his operation. If this takes you years, then so be it. If you must gain his trust by assisting him with his goal, then you _will_ do so.” His one eye narrowed again. “Tell him Madara has sent you.”

Seething with cold rage though you were, you said nothing and turned away from him, went to the door, opened it calmly, then closed it behind you. Konan had been eavesdropping and stumbled backwards to afford you a wide-eyed stare that you couldn’t comprehend the meaning of in your addled state. Madara was exceedingly good at unsettling people. He had many years of practice of course. But it wasn't necessarily his high and mighty disposition, or the things he revealed. You were rattled because you're still human, despite popular belief. Konan placed a hand on your shoulder, slid it down to your elbow, and motioned with her head towards a hallway, indicating that you should to follow her. She guided you away from this room, and you let her do so. 

But now that you were out of earshot you didn't hear Kisame’s voice rumble darkly from within the audience chamber. 

“She didn’t accept it.”  
Madara plucked at the hem of his sleeves and rolled his shoulders before heading to the door himself. “She will.”

“What makes ya say that?”

“You’ll see.” 

 

_Pein’s Room…_

 

Konan had led you silently along. Her mind was whirring without a break over what she just heard. She figured that Madara either didn’t know or wasn’t in a position to stop her from listening. Finally you both came to a room you had never seen before, as it was set far away from all the others. Konan knocked twice before entering and you followed, brushing her hand away from your elbow. You looked up and around with inquisitive amethyst orbs, and finally saw Pein come out of the bathroom, mussing his hair with a towel. You noted that he wasn’t exactly emotionally guarded this time….no, Pein was openly troubled, his pierced eyebrows drawn down a fraction.

“Sensei?” You were amazed even at yourself. Earlier you expressed to Itachi, however indirectly, that you no longer thought of Pein as a teacher. Maybe it was force of habit that skimmed this one word off your tongue.  
Pein waved this away. “Do not call me that.”

You afforded him an insolent look. “You taught me what I know. Whether or not it was your idea to come find me doesn’t matter. You’re still my teacher and one of the very few people I trust.” If nothing else, it was wise to try and play their game. They wanted to lie to you, and for now it was best to keep on acting as if you saw this man in a positive light. It's not possible to learn who is on which side right now. The only ally you knew of for sure is Itachi. 

“Madara confronted her and gave her a mission, Pein.” Konan said. Her voice was shaded with sadness. Pein went into the bathroom again and this time came out minus the towel, but with brushed hair, spiky as usual though. He wasn’t wearing a cloak, just the Akatsuki uniform.  
“Yes, it was bound to happen.” Pein admitted. “He has been waiting for when Saiya would be able to adequately control her abilities."

“Then its too soon.” You said. “There is one more thing I need to figure out.” At their raised eyebrows you gave a funny little laugh. “Heheh..heh…come on. Haven’t either of you watched horror movies before? It’s a given.”  
Apparently not because they didn’t catch on, and you were exasperated. “I guess it’ll be a surprise then."

“What do you intend to do now Saiya?” Pein asked evenly, making eye contact. His Rinnegan was not malevolent and remote, but inquisitive instead.  
“Good question. Now I know that Madara is the enemy.” You avoided mentioning that you knew the truth about Itachi's past. You've been ordered to track down and join Sasuke's cause; and if Sasuke realized what part Madara actually played, then he may be less amenable to his help. Sending you into the younger Uchiha's clutches was practically a charity in itself since you had no previous intentions of signing on with him, despite his numerous weak attempts to persuade you. "And Madara certainly has done a good job of tricking everyone. Or me, at least. I do believe that I'm typically the last to know anything here, as the newbie."

“We can’t avoid him; he’s been deciding every move that Akatsuki makes.” Konan sighed irritably. “He has been looking down upon Pein and I ever since we met him, and insulting our abilities at every turn.”

You snorted, and unintentionally made light of the situation. “Please, that’s always been Tobi’s way hasn’t it? He likes to make fun of people and goof off. I always thought that he liked to disagree with people for the hell of it, now I understand that he has a reason. He can back it up after all.”

“What exactly did he order you to do?" Pein asked, ignoring the small stab of rudeness.

You shrugged lazily and sat on his bed, not caring if you weren’t invited to do so. He sat down next to you though, and Konan sat on the other side of you. You let gravity take you backwards and laced your fingers over your navel. “He wants me to go to Sasuke and say that I am to assist him, compliments of Madara. But as I gain his trust I am to find out where the captured jinchuuriki are so they can be taken for Akatsuki’s needs.”

They looked at each other, and you lifted your head up, propping yourself upon your elbows. “What?”

“He’s still at it.” Konan said more to Pein than to you. To this the other nodded solemnly. 

“What? What?”

“Madara has always been interested in Sasuke. And Sasuke is interested in you.” Konan explained.

“Right, which is why this both has flaws and advantages.” You said. “Sasuke wants my help and suddenly I offer it to him? Call me crazy but if I were Sasuke I wouldn’t believe it for a second.”

“No, he would already assume the worst.” Pein agreed. 

“Ok. So I help him.” You stood up and threw your hands in the air, letting them drop, then gestured to yourself with a sweep of the hand. “Am I not wearing the red and black of Akatsuki? We’ve made a name for ourselves by now. Everyone knows that we’re after the bijuu, and uhp! Now I’m here to help… _yeah_. He’s overconfident but his mother didn’t raise a fool.”  
“How funny of you to admit that.” Konan chuckled.

You wrinkled your nose at her and gave a slow, imperious sniff. “Talkin' smack is part of the game and I happen to play it better than most.” To hear you switch into a less proper habit of speech, however momentarily, was a bit comical. Konan shook her head at you, lips thinned, whilst Pein’s mouth twisted at one corner into an unusual smirk. “That aside, there is much left to be done.”

“Yeah but before any of that happens;” You began, turning and heading to the door. “You two need to make some decisions of your own.”

Konan looked up and exchanged a glance with Pein, both nextly gazing at your back as you continued to walk to the door. “I might not be working on some plan many years in the making like the rest of you guys seem to be, but that doesn’t mean anyone can use me as they see fit.” You turned to address them, purple eyes beginning to glow with suspicion. “Isn’t that right? I was raised to be used by Madara, for his twisted purposes. Well, I’m going to make plans of my own. And may your god have mercy on you if you get in my way, because those who cross me will be given no quarter.” Your body faded into the ghostly format and you floated two inches above the ground. Lowering your head a fraction so your nose was just hidden behind the edge of your high collar, you narrowed your eyes to malicious slits and your ghostly voice cut through their mental walls.

 _’Any and all whom have made the decision to use me will know nothing but torment.’_

Like a wind, you were gone.

“Pein…” Konan said, her mouth ajar.  
“…”

“…You’ve…created a monster, Pein…”

“I know Konan.” He responded softly, calculating. “I know it well.”  
Things might work out his way after all.

 

 _With You…_

 

You never got to ask Pein if you could have your way with the prisoners, but you didn’t care for permission on second thought, so you took a few of your things and went down to the dungeon. There was still time to utilize the facilities down here while you could. There was no easy way of knowing what would happen after your bold declaration, not until it was too late. But for now you needed to think. A good way to do that was while you were elbow-deep in someone’s guts. Screams chisel away at tension like decent human beings would not _believe_.

You kicked the barred door of a familiar man. He had known you since you entered the academy way back when. It was your first sensei who had once been decent looking and strong, but age, stress and abuse had taken their toll. He wasn't exactly an imposing man to begin with; but his flesh was pulled taut around his bones, forming knobs and ruts upon his body, indicating severe malnourishment. And his filthy brown hair was speckled with gray. Those once-intense eyes had even dulled from bright gold to more of dimmed ochre and his naturally tan skin was mottled with dirt and bloodstains. When you had kicked his bars he jolted out of his daze and looked to you bemusedly. 

“Get up.” You ordered, and unlocked the door.  
He didn’t move; or maybe it was that he wasn’t able. His right leg from the knee-down was unnaturally crooked. It made sense that he might’ve been disabled during capture so they could hassle him down here easier; this man was always stubborn and wouldn’t stop fighting as long as he drew breath. He may not be as tall and broad as some men, but he could hold his own, else he wouldn't be a sensei to anyone. "Up. _Now_." You repeated coldly. This guy had been kind and patient, everything that Pein wasn't. He did what he could to make sure you didn't get kicked out of Academy at the beginning. You'd been a runt compared to the others, with eyes nearly too large for her head and a stubborn streak that could make a mule back up.

But the man said nothing and simply looked at you, into those eerily familiar eyes. They were still as large as he remembered them, but they contained nary a shred of the same innocence. Maybe this man had become sentimental but he seemed broken, and generally despondent when you both made eye contact. After you left the Hidden Grass the way you did and the dust settled, he was deeply scrutinized for your actions. A teacher can sometimes be held accountable for the actions of their students. While he tried to defend you and deflect blame back towards your family, he realized he was grasping at straws and eventually came clean; admitting that he had no idea why you did what you did. You had begun to change in dark ways, becoming a troubled girl. Many teens feel misunderstood and plunge themselves headlong into angst, but that was only a ruse. He realized now that it was never mere angst which would ebb away with maturity. 

While he was neck deep in self pity, you reevaluated your choice of victim. Honestly, there wasn’t much meat left on his bones for you to get past wrist-deep in his belly.  
“Take me instead.” This male voice poked up out of the shuffle and din of the prison, and you turned to look. It was one of your team mates. Your old sensei’s tired eyes darted to the cell across from him and he shook his head slowly. There wasn’t any hope for him to be able to escape unless he was carried. While they all agreed that they were going to be done away with eventually; there was also the hope that it wouldn't be at _your_ hands. These people were dragged here because of you, but they gathered early on that it hadn't been on your orders. If it had been, you might've made this trip far sooner. Another voice called, from further down the hall, "Can't you leave them be? Don't you understand that they've been through enough?"

“Don't try reasoning with the insane. What’s the point? These assholes will do what they want with us anyway.” Sneered the last bitterly, the one whom you encountered the first time you came down here.

“Leave him alone.” The first one said. But for the life of you, you couldn’t remember their names. It had been so long ago, and so much had transpired between now and then. So much carnage drenched your past that one face looked the same as the next and names didn’t carry much import. 

“What’s the POINT?” The second repeated louder, voice brittle as it had been before. “She doesn’t care, she could’ve helped us by now, but obviously we’re nothing now.”

“Nothing?” You echoed.

“Do you even remember us? Do you remember ME? My name? What about our sensei? Or the name of the restaurant you worked at? Or your two brothers! Do you know them? Do you know your own mother’s face anymore, what it was like to be held by her?!”

You were staring at him, wondering what his point really was. Not far away, hidden around the corner, was Deidara. Your attention was caught by these prisoners so you didn’t notice. They were trying to get you to feel some remorse. Trying to hit where it hurts; but it was not working at all. Unlike Itachi, you didn't kill off your own clan because you were painted into a corner. You did it of your own volition. 

“Do not bother appealing to a monster.” Old sensei murmured, having finally clamored to the realization that the child he taught either never was, or was no more.

“I know how they died.” You answered simply, while the quietest, most meek one of your past team mates piped up again.

“That’s it?” He asked quietly, then was up slamming the bars, screaming like a madman. “THAT’S IT?! THAT’S ALL YOU REMEMBER?! HOW THEY DIED?! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU!? WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU SAIYA?!?! WHAT DID THEY DO TO YOU?!?! YOU WERE NEVER LIKE THIS!!!!"

You were visibly startled and closed the door of the cage you had opened, watching this outburst warily. Apparently he wasn’t so dehydrated that he had no tears to cry, because now one was rolling down his cheek. This was all too much.

“YOU ACTUALLY CARED ABOUT PEOPLE! THAT’S WHY YOU BECAME A MEDIC! AND A COOK!!”

“….” You were stuck. Whenever he wasn’t screaming, the prison was dead silent. One could’ve heard a pin drop on the opposite side. 

“Then you…then…” His voice was at the end of its strength. He was raspy and angry and crying all at once. Most men don't dissolve into displays of emotion, public or private. But he was whittled down to his last nerve, which had been pinched raw by now.  
“You…Saiya…you changed…we don’t know why…but you changed so much…you started..s-started killing…for no reason…s-s-started…poisoning your weapons and didn’t tell us in training…we got sick!! So...so sick...the signs were there...no one wanted to think it could be you behind all those dying people...we thought that you were just being pushed too hard by your family...”

But why he stopped talking wasn’t the waning strength in his vocal chords. It was the low ripple of laughter that grew and grew in volume from you until you were laughing hysterically. 

“Hahahahaaaaahahaha…oh…my god…what a joke!” You gasped. “You’ve got to be… _kidding_ …me! HAHAHAHAAAAA!”

“It’s not funny!” Another cried out.  
“Oh, for fuck's sake,” You went on, and drew a breath to steady your voice, which quavered with laughter. “I became a medic because Pein-sensei showed me what medics are capable of, and this _weakling_ ,” You shot a glare at Old Sensei, “Couldn’t offer me the training I needed, so I accepted it from a different source. But to think you were so deluded into thinking that I actually became a medic for the good of others…you are more of an idiot than I ever comprehended!”

“But you did.” Old Sensei whispered fearfully. “I saw how at peace you had been when practicing the Mystic Hand—“

“—Do not mistake concentration for peace and happiness, fool.” You sneered.

“Kami, she’s brainwashed.” The one from behind whispered, his hoarse voice filled with a tremor of fear. They were there. They remembered how it all happened. There was no man named 'Pein'. They saw personally when you first began healing. It wasn't like this at all, but you believed something else. That, or you were throwing out anything that seemed likely to injure them. How sad it was, to of come to this.

“Alright.” You conceded. “Perhaps I don’t mind assisting those whom I actually care about; but since you three have been stuck in here for quite awhile now, I find it safe to say that you aren’t counted amongst them.”

That one got to them. They were all silent and pained, remembering the past. They were so damn beaten down that the more they thought of it, the more it seemed true. You dawdled before healing them as long as possible without arousing suspicion; always smoothly evading questions or turning those same questions around and contorting their meaning. Otherwise you made sure you were too busy to be there whenever you could. You busted your ass to succeed at a young age. You took up a per diem job as a cook for when you weren’t on missions. You avoided your team as much as possible and allayed suspicion perfectly well in the process.

“Now that it has finally sunk in that you’ve been strung along all this time,” You went on to say, and locked the door back up again. The key gave a rusty squeal, and you yanked it out, tugging on the bars to make certain it was closed tight. “I think I’ll leave you all down here to rot in case I need a good laugh someday. Till' then.” You parted from them and began weaving through the rows of cells, looking past the empty ones and scanning the occupied cells for a candidate. Your mind wheeled and stewed. _'They want to believe that I need saving. They want to think that the kid they grew up with didn't mature into a conniving bitch. But it's best that they have some kind of closure on this matter before they die, no matter how ugly.'_ You thought to yourself. _'They were there for me in the beginning more than my own clan ever was. They deserve to see the truth and let go. It's because of me that they're here, after all. This is the one courtesy I will afford them.'_ The entire time, an azure eye followed your progress through the rows, while you took abnormally long to decide. Deidara watched right up to when you found a young woman and dragged her from the cell, then brought her along with you to the door where none ever return from.

When the door closed, Deidara saw that along the very edge near the hinge, the last prisoner who had occupied the cell beside it had scratched into the paint;

‘DEATH’S DOOR’.


	31. No Guts No Glory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes a girl just needs to cut loose, as it were.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rhig: YO!!! I have obtained a laptop which I can tether my smartphone to for interwebs, so I can update now! Sadly this computer is a bit temperamental so we will see how long it lasts. XD Many thanks for the patience, compliments, reviews, kudos, reads! ^^ As promised, I have MANY chapters to update with. 
> 
> <3
> 
> Deidara: About time, un.
> 
> Rhig: It bears repeating that I certainly don't own Naruto. If I did, internet wouldn't be a problem!

No Guts No Glory

 

She was a thing of beauty. A new prisoner as it turned out, so she wasn’t quite as scuffed up and broken down in places as the others. You weren’t aware of why she was in the holds in the first place. But for now, you figured it was something that had to do with Madara, so you didn’t care why she was here. Especially if it was by Madara’s orders.

But yes. A thing of beauty, and she was shivering, stripped down to nothing but her underwear. She was frightened to death and trying to shrink away from your barest touch, to which you smirked. “Shhhh…” You breathed soothingly, and tied your hair back into a ponytail, then used your slashed hitai-ate as a hair band to fasten back your bangs. 

“Everything is going to be okay. I’m a professional.” You removed your cloak, ring, and skintight black half-finger gloves next. The sigils were evident in varying hues of darker skin tones according to usage…brownish, like henna. Although if you looked closely, and on your way to the table along the wall you did—you noticed that the symbols were beginning to attune themselves to the colors closest associated with their respective elements. Still, the change was nearly undetectable for now unless you were looking for it.

“What are you going to do?” Your captor whimpered softly. The sound of latex stretching over your fingers and across the backs of your hands was practically menacing, as you stretched the gloves out loudly and purposefully, and let them snap. Dust swirled in the light, and you turned to her with a sneer. “I don’t recall giving you permission to speak, Toy.” 

“What did you call me?!”

“ _Again_ with the uninvited questions.” You murmured, taking your time in making certain that all was as it should be. "Eager to get started, are we?” You then selected a few items and went over to her; setting them down on the tray next to the table she was fastened to, and you placed your fingers against her upper belly, tracing along the wide ‘V’ that the ribcage forms. She gave another involuntary shiver and a light rosy hue dusted her cheeks. You didn’t notice straight away. But when you did...a low, menacing snicker issued out. 

“I see.”

She tried to shake her head, as if to push away the cobwebs. Now was hardly the right opportunity to think naughty thoughts, but it was so easy to try and place this situation in a less menacing light. If she managed not to be afraid, if she could somehow prepare herself, what was about to happen could be survivable if coming out of this alive was an option. “Whuh…wha?” 

You did not trouble to elaborate, and instead turned on the light attached to the table and shifted the arm so it was over your subject, now aptly nicknamed by as ‘Toy’ since you didn't need to learn anything about the woman you're about to kill. All you needed to know about her was what her innards were like.  
“So, let us have a look.” You said pleasantly enough, having already put away earlier thoughts and brushed away the debacle in the prison as though it were an out-of-place strand of hair. 

It was harder than Toy realized to quell fear with perversion, and her panic quickly became blatant. “L-look at what?! What do you think you're doing?! This can't be legal, you have absolutely no right!!!! You terrorists can't...c-can't...k-kidnap somebody and do what you want!" 

Ignoring her, you had taken up a ten-blade, removed the small sheath, and then touched it to the ‘v’ of her ribcage. Metal parted flesh as though it were nothing at all, and at first what was happening took a moment to sink in. She began to writhe and emit yelps of protest and pain while the scalpel worked its magic, the edge honed so finely that it took a moment for her nerves to catch up.

“AAH! NO! NO! STOP! AAAAH!"

You were carving out a flap along the bottom of her ribcage, then down along opposite sides of her tummy. Blood had beaded up at first, but now it was overflowing from the incisions. They were slowly done, to drag it out…her pain, that is. She squirmed and you lifted the knife whenever she did and waited for her to stop, only to sigh contentedly and move on with the cutting, working along the other side, then taking the finished flap still hinged at the bottom to the area above her bikini line, and peeled it back, laying it over her bloodied panties. Scarlet fluid poured onto the table and filled into a thickening pool. One might think that a scalpel isn't the best instrument for torture. They're kept extremely sharp, so that the agony is minimized. But there's no painkillers in use here. It can take a tiny bit for her body to recognize the pain, but inevitably, it digs in and lives there awhile. She could thrash, scream and beg as much as she pleased. It only served as a grisly form of amusement for your part. 

“N-NO!!! Please...p..please...NO! PLEASE NO! AAAAH!” Toy strained at her bindings but they held fast. 

You weren’t bothered. If nothing else her screams were quite soothing and brought a calm smile to your face. You set the scalpel down and reached a hand into her, fingering one organ, slipping your digits beneath its round shape, and curling them under it, lifting it and moving it carefully aside. “Hmm, you know… all this screaming?” You mused aloud when she was just shaking and hurting, not yelling her throat out anymore. You put this organ back and took up the bloody scalpel again.

“This screaming of yours…it’s _doing_ things for me. But it's certainly not going to do a _thing_ for you.” And soon metal would part flesh again, this time you snipped away her bra and made an incision down her chest so you could see her heart. It took a little doing, but at last it was bared, and you touched the surface of it carefully, running your fingertips down one side. It was hammering harder under your touch since Toy could see what you were doing. Expand, contract, throb throb throb…if terror were to have an avatar, this would be it. Her skin was wet with red, and her cheeks were damp. Toy’s eyes kept squeezing shut in the bright light and opening again, usually as wide as her lids would go…because you continued to slice into her skin as though it were nothing. For now you had paused and your eyelids drooped, the heart was louder when it is unearthed from its cavity. You closed your eyes and listened, your chin lowering whilst the hand unoccupied by that scalpel was guiding over her wracked frame. 

“I could do such things…make you more beautiful, or take that beauty away…make you into a male, or an unrecognizable, androgynous _freak_ ; patch you up and send you home…you’d never have to worry about being raped ever again.” You whispered under your breath, and Toy’s aqua eyes were huge and horrorstruck more than before.  
“No…” She uttered softly, weakly. “No…no please…no more…n…n..no.......more…”

Your eyes drifted partway open, crescents of malevolent violet revealed with a harsh gleam in the unforgiving light shone down upon her exposed body. She was twitching, shaking, her augmented breasts shifting slightly with each heaved breath and violent shudder. There were scars from surgery marked under her armpits where the skin is pulled back and the imperfections passed off as nothing…you lowered a hand down to the flap over her panties and moved it back where it belonged, but hooked a bloodied, gloved finger in the hem and teased the soaked, lacey fabric downwards. More scars here, from a tummy-tuck. You pushed it down further and inserted a single finger into her folds, and snickered again, low and nasty under your breath.

“I guess its too late to worry about rape isn’t it now, Toy? You were someone else’s plaything before. But you belong to me now. Your death belongs to me, like how your life belongs to your mother…she was there when you came into this world, and I am here to see through your passing.” 

Her energy was renewed with this most recent violation of her person. “You’re sick! You’re insane!!!” Toy spat out, more tears crawling out the corners of her watery eyes. 

“Don’t be so judgmental— here I am being courteous, not saying anything about these disgusting, sloppy scars left behind, about how wide and loose your cunt is. But oh, never mind that.” Your purple eyes opened fully and your grip on the lancet tightened, then without warning you knocked askew the belly flap and delved one hand into her gut again. Toy flung her head back and she let out a startled, tormented cry. 

“You know, I’m rooting around in your insides with the same hand that touched your pussy. It's not quite sanitary. But no matter, you needn’t concern yourself with it, Toy. It’s not as though you’ll live long enough to get herpes on your innards.” You grasped her left kidney and began to pull. You weren’t going to cut it loose. No, you were going to rip it from her as it was. There are some things that knives aren’t required for. More crimson ichor welled up and gushed over, spilling from the table, pooling onto the floor at your feet, a streak of red coloring the front of your right boot. It wasn’t the first time that you had gore up around your knees. 

“How do you like me now?” Your eyes flickered towards her face, where her cheeks had been pink before. She was either just a very sensual woman that responds when touched ‘just so’, bisexual, or even a lesbian...in any case, you didn't plan on asking which it was. Earlier, she was blushing. Maybe she had a dirty mind and imagined things might go in a more perverse fashion. She couldn't be more wrong, if so. But each to their own. Maybe she fantasized about sex in torture chambers.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH! AAAAH! AH! AH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!”

“Sounds like rape, baby. Here, want me to make it feel good?”

“NO! NO! NO! AH! AH! AAAAH! AAAAAAAH!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

You nearly threw back your head and burst out laughing like a mad woman, but held it in. All your tensions bled away temporarily; this was purely for amusement now. And her entrails were proving to be quite firmly attached and hard to keep a grip on, but then, you weren't exactly trying. “Slippery little bastard!” You remarked amusedly, and when it squished out of your hand a third time you started laughing, seeing the deformed shape this soft, iridescent red tissue was left in. The kidney alone was no longer so much a lopsided, fat mushroom shape; and it had deep fingerprints dented into it. You chuckled again and stepped back. Fun as this was, you were developing an appetite. And now her screaming was bringing back that thudding in your head where you had been oh-so randomly punched. The woman should be dead by now from a host of reasons, but you were using a few obscure medic-ninja tricks to keep her alive long enough to satiate those violent impulses. 

So you shrugged and left Toy as she was, stripping off your gloves, taking up a clean rag and wiping off your boot, then threw the rag at the floor carelessly.  
“Whatever. I’m hungry. Oh and…if you happen to drop into the underworld, tell em’ not to bother saving a place for me. I won't be dying until I _fucking_ say so.”

 _’And I won’t. Especially if I figure out this immortality thing after all.’_ You frowned slightly and left after washing your wrists and hands (despite having worn gloves, it was habit). You then went upstairs, cloak pulled half onto one shoulder and you slipped your ring on, pocketed the gloves and kept your hair up. The tortured toy woman would die shortly from any of several reasons once you left, considering you needed to keep her alive with a jutsu in the first place in order to prolong the fun.

On the way out you noticed a very perplexed blonde trying to open the prison doors, but he had forgotten the sequence of handseals. When he heard your footsteps, he turned to look at you over his shoulder with an organic eye. However Dei didn’t get a chance to avoid it when he saw a set of knuckles coming straight at his face. He stumbled backwards with a yell and covered his eye which would probably be blackened soon enough.

“WHAT THE HELL, HNN?!”

“Returning the favor.” You drawled, and then proceeded to open the door. 

“What the fuck are you _talking_ about, I didn’t hit you, hn!”

“Yeah you did.”

“I just got back a half hour ago! Why do you assume it was me, HN!?”

You paused after having unlocked the door and turned to him. “All I know is that it was a blonde. I hadn't exactly been paying attention, but as far as I'm aware, the only blondie around here that's got a problem with me is YOU."

"Yeah well obviously there's another person too because _I_ sure as hell didn't do it. Maybe it was a servant, most of them resent that they're stuck here till they die, nnh."

A pause. Upon consideration, he was right. There had been a woman with hair roughly the same length and shade as his, and she was around his height too come to think of it. She always seemed grouchy, though you didn't see her too often. "Perhaps that blonde woman, who often wears her hair in a ponytail or braid? Always had an attitude about doing her job?”

He shrugged. “Could be. Not many of us blondes around here, hm."

“I guess not.” You shrugged and headed up the stairs. Deidara had been gingerly testing the tender flesh below his eyeball and realized a second too late that he was about to be locked in again. He scrambled to grasp the edge of the heavy door before it slammed shut, but got his fingers caught between door and frame instead. Hot pain seared through his hand. “Agh-OW! Dammit!!!" 

You turned on the steps to notice four digits contorted in pain before he forced the door back open and you crossed your arms, raising an eyebrow at him. “Can’t say you didn’t have it coming though.”

He let the door swing shut now that he was on the other side, and he was examining his hurt hand now too while walking up the steps. You then continued upstairs. It was a long walk, actually.  
While Deidara couldn’t rightfully make a comment, he would do so anyway. “You had it coming too, nn.”

“Which part?”

He watched you, nearly wincing whenever he blinked. Deidara wasn’t sure if you knew he had been spying on you or if you were just being willfully obtuse. Then again, much had happened in the past month. That’s just how it is when you’re in with a criminal organization like Akatsuki. There is seldom a dull moment.

“So—  
“I had to help him, un.”  
“What?” The abrupt subject change caught you a touch off guard.  
“Sasori. You were killing him, nn.”

You sighed and stepped out of the stairwell, glad to be done with ascending its height. Deidara followed and was now walking beside you in the hall.  
“I know I was.”  
“So you did it anyway, nn?”  
“It was an experiment.”  
“Somehow I doubt that, hn.”

You glanced at him. He was walking to your right so you couldn’t see his azure eye. It was probably beginning to bruise over by now.  
“Well then I confess; I was mad at Sasori so I killed him and then realized I couldn’t leave him that way. But at the time it was his life or my virginity, and I don't care for rape. I simply reacted in a way most potential victims wouldn't dare."

“You’re getting more and more fucked up by the day, nnh.” He pointed out dryly. But the remark went mostly ignored. “I know you hate me Deidara.”  
“Hm?” He turned his head to look at you as you both strode down the corridors. He was only following you; and you were going to the kitchen.  
“Let’s face it. You and Sasori led me on before and I was too foolish to see it back then. Now I know what you both really wanted from me. I began to understand that before Anarchy, when I was angry and talking about killing Sasori. You got really upset. Practically crying yourself, if I’m not mistaken.” You were idly shifting your ring around on your pinky finger, staring ahead at a bend in the hall. Out the corner of an eye, you spied his disbelief at that jab. But amazingly, he bit his tongue. “….” Deidara turned his head away and watched the wall beside him pass, glaring daggers at it, as if that'd help. He had not been about to _cry_ , that's absurd! If anything, he was appalled at how twisted you were on the inside. To merely glance at you, one wouldn't expect it. Failing that, getting to know you at first was also not enough to realize the level of sinister you had stalking the shadows of your mind. The question remained if there was more to see, or if this was the extent of it.

“I’m not about to be used or put under by anyone Deidara. That means you need to square with the fact that I never was and never shall be a blank canvas for you; and the same goes for Sasori. Also know that if I really wanted to put an end to all this, we wouldn’t be talking right now.” You smiled pleasantly now. “I made Sasori my puppet and I could make you go out with a ‘bang’. Except when I do it there won’t be any piece of you left, _apart from a hair from your hairbrush._ ”

“…….” He caught the reference to his own revival. Dei learned that before you somehow managed it how you did, you thought that the only part of him left would be a few hairs left stuck upon grooming appliances. It still painted an ugly image in his head, and he restrained a grimace.

“I've heard that only want to blow up people whom you like. Is this so?”

“Doesn't really matter anymore, hn."

A warmthless smile tilted your mouth at his reply, and you rounded the threshold into the kitchen. That was all the reply you needed. Deidara remained in the hallway, considering it. He was amused to find himself wishing that he _had_ been the one to punch you in the head earlier, and he entertained the notion of seeing if Itachi understood the depths of your depravity. He had gone into the observation chamber and watched through the glass, and witnessed the awful things you did to that victim, for no particular reason other than catharsis as far as he could tell. And then there was the matter of that spirited conversation you had with that group from your past in the Grass Nation. Deidara was a bit curious as to why you didn't take the chance to silence them once and for all; but unless he was mistaken, you went completely soft on them and spoon-fed those fools the first bullshit story you plucked from the ether. It was an interesting interaction to witness. In hindsight, perhaps leaving your homeland didn't go without scratching a scar into your soul; though you'd have everybody believe that it was the best thing you ever did for yourself. If anything, you became more distracted from that conversation. It was primarily one-sided until you decided to snap back at them. And unless Deidara was much mistaken, it was as if seeing those men gouged a scab off a healing wound which you vastly preferred to keep hidden.

From where you worked, as ever, loud noises emanated. Instead of agonized wails he could hear pots and pans clang about and the faucet was switched on. As water patiently filled a ceramic vessel, you went into the walk-in fridge and found that the blonde servant girl with her nasty temper was inside the fridge with another young woman; a shy one with cobalt hair that was short on the left side and down to her shoulder on the right. A bit of an oddball, but she was also probably the most shy, unassuming worker on staff. Miss Blondie blanched when she saw you, and you smirked and went to the freezer, poked your head inside, and saw nothing you wanted…so you grasped her wrist before she could continue her work, shoved her into the freezer, then locked the door. She started yelling and hammering on the door and the other servant stared in horror.

“Keep working.” You ordered coolly. “And if you let her out, you’ll _both_ be in the torture chamber for a new experiment of mine. Is that clear?”

“Yy-yes, Saiya-sama.”

“Good girl. Keep at it.” You gathered up a few items and left the walk-in to find Deidara running his bruised fingers under some cold water. 

“Why’d you do that, un?” Prior conversation notwithstanding, it wasn't a total certainty that this particular girl had been the offender you searched for. Somehow, Deidara had his doubts that you _cared_ at all who punched you upon learning that it wasn't his fault. In response to his question, you grinned broadly and took out a knife with which to dispatch vegetables to the skillet. “I felt like making a blonde suffer.”

“…………..”

“I figure if no one goes in there she’ll either suffocate or get hypothermia, I don’t know how airtight the freezer is.”

“……………………..”

“And this way Hidan has a freeze-dried sacrifice, just add—“

“Shut your fucking mouth, HN.”

You laughed at his distaste and went to work on dinner, having nothing more to say.  
But when the food was ready you merely set it on the table and packed two bento boxes, took couple sets of chopsticks and bottles of water, then roamed off to find Itachi. His bedroom door was closed when you got there.

_’Itachi? I have dinner. Open up?’_

He opened his eyes within and at the smell of food his stomach growled beneath those washboard abs. He glanced down at the bedspread, then raised his onyx eyes to the door and concentrated upon it. The door swung open and you walked in, grinning at him. “You’re getting better at this.” And set down his bento box with the drink and chopsticks. “I can’t open or close doors with my brains though, personally.” You set your own box down and turned back to close the door, but he had already. Lifting a shoulder in a shrug, you sat down on the corner of his bed and blinked at him. “You smell of blood.” Itachi murmured, pulling apart the chopsticks and then opening his box of food. You lifted a slender black eyebrow and popped apart your own chopsticks. “I had to blow off some steam.”

“I heard the screams as well.”

“Which ones?”

“Both.”

“Ah.” You remembered that there had been some men yelling at you before Toy. “There’s going to be more of that you know.”

“Have you spoken with Pein?”

“I spoke to a lot of people today.” You said, and picked up a piece of sushi, inspected it, and popped it into your mouth. Itachi was eating quickly whenever he wasn’t talking; you could tell he was ravenous. He also hadn’t touched his water yet. You picked your own bottle up, broke the seal, unscrewed the cap and took a couple swigs. “I talked tooooo…Konan, Sensei…Deidara…three guys from my past…some bitch…and Madara.”

“Madara.” It was more a statement than a question.  
“Yes. Madara. He was in the room where Pein-sensei usually meets with us.” You brightened. “I’ve got a new mission now!”

“Which would be?”

“To go to your brother and offer my assistance; and mention that Madara sent me. But while I get ordered around by Sasuke I am to sneak about behind his back and find the jinchuuriki he’s detained and figure out his operation. Evidently, I must balance that with gaining his trust.”

“…” Itachi said nothing at first. He lowered his chopsticks and considered what you had just told him. 

“Itachi; Madara indicated that I must do whatever it takes to gain Sasuke's complete trust. If that includes reviving long dead Uchiha clansmen or whatever plan he's concocted, then so be it."

Itachi was thinking, as he so often tends to. Except in this case he was considering Madara’s plot.  
“Madara _is_ bent on revenge.” Itachi responded finally. “He will do all that he can to ensure that Sasuke is turned against the Hidden Leaf. If that means helping him further his agenda, even if those goals go against Madara's own, so be it. In the grand scheme of things, he would make some allowances if it meant securing my brother's alliance. He will do what he must to obliterate Konoha, and the end usually justifies the means.”

“I know very little about the Hidden Leaf, aside from what you’ve shown me earlier.” You said. “As with any nation, I'm aware that they had a lot of internal problems which they attempted to keep secret. And when I was still in the Grass nation, our ninja council vowed never to strike against them in those times of weakness as long as the Leaf would maintain its alliance with them. Or at the very least that they would never raise a hand against one another, even if they don't necessarily agree.”

Itachi nodded once. “As I have shown you before, the Uchiha clan and Konoha had several conflicts. It would have turned into civil war quickly. Madara always harbored hatred towards a specific clan within Konoha and has become hell bent on vengeance.” His beautiful eyes narrowed a fraction. “Does that remind you of anyone?”

“Sasuke.” You said.

“Yes.” Itachi nodded. “And Uzumaki Naruto has inherited the ‘Will of Fire’. To Madara this would mean that my brother and Naruto are destined to fight….as Madara has fought against those whom also carried with them the Will of Fire in the past.”

“What’s the ‘Will of Fire’?”

“A belief of sorts within Konohagakure.” He dismissed it as such, and you shrugged. "Sounds like Madara has a grudge he never really got to settle.”

“Yes.” Itachi said. “I worked with Madara when my family still lived, except I did so to prevent him from getting involved any further for awhile. He taught me much. But as you now know, Madara is the one whom orchestrated the massacre of my clan.” He paused, then, “He is also the one whom set the Kyuubi against Konoha on the evening of Uzumaki Naruto's birth. The ensuing battle would lead to the death of the boy's parents, and with their last breath, they protected their newborn son and also sealed the Kyuubi within him.”

“What?!” You stared at him. “And they say _I’m_ psychotic. I take it that things have since not gone Madara's way.”

Itachi gave no reply, as the answer was self apparent. He took a swig of water and you absentmindedly watched his Adam's Apple flick up and down; then turned your gaze back to your dinner and began fidgeting with your chopsticks, clicking them together. “So now Sasuke is trying to get the clan back together, or something thereabouts. And Madara wants to befriend him, but he hates the very people Sasuke wants to resurrect. Assuming that is indeed his intention, of course.”

“Correct.”

“So he’d use me to reach Sasuke, and the resources he has which we require.” You voiced, thinking on it. There were too many things that didn't match in a satisfactory way. Surely there's an alternate path of reasoning for these events.

“Yes.”

“But at the same time Itachi, I refuse to work for Madara, even if I have been all this time without knowing it. Now oil and water are separating. And I smell blood in the water. I doubt I'm the only one who does.” You sighed and set your box aside, appetite diminished from the subject at hand. Something about all this wasn't right. “I am about to start acting as a pipeline between two parties; Akatsuki, and Team Hebi.”

“….” Was it his imagination or was history beginning to repeat itself? Itachi said nothing and continued eating, concealing his grim surprise at the concept. Gradually, he looked up and wondered if you recognized it too after he shared his history with you earlier. You tilted your head, gazing back into the depths of his ebon stare. It could be the easiest thing in the world, to drown in those eyes, but not now. “There aren't many whom I care about in all the world. I’ve actually come to like some of the people here in Akatsuki, and Sasuke has pulled in my subordinates as well. I may not have wanted them at first, but they proved their usefulness. I got used to having them around, even enjoyed their company.” You gritted your teeth, grinding them a little, but stopped after a moment. The more you thought about this, the more uncomfortable you became. “See, I’ve gotten a list of names from one of my informants. They’re the ones closest to me that escaped before Konoha got to them. I know them, Itachi, they would never lie to me, would never turn against me. And now…I’m being forced to go against two groups of people that I care about?" You swirled the contents of the water bottle in hand, watching it spin into a tiny whirlpool. "I suppose this is the vaunted 'karmic justice' I keep hearing about on and off. Y'know, when one who lacks the means to make somebody else pay for their crimes simply waits for the day when a villain gets their comeuppance." 

There it was. Itachi saw it now, laid out before him. He sat still, taking it all in, and his darkened heart ached a little. He knew this all too well. It was painful to go against that; he had loved his country and wanted to avoid bringing it to harm; while his own family, with people he loved there as well….he couldn’t hurt them, either. He worked for both groups; was a _pipeline_ between both. In the end he turned on one to save the other. And it was all orchestrated by Madara’s hand. And when faced with a situation of that type, the 'right' thing to do is to work for the greater good. If it comes down to slaying off a handful of people to save a whole nation, then the choice is clear. But history has a way of repeating itself, and in a small way, it was doing so again. Except now, a Tailed Beast hung in the balance and neither side was good. Itachi had already squared with the fact that you are messed up in the head to begin with; but he wished there was a way to avoid inflicting further harm. As it was, the pieces of yourself that weren't soaked in evil influence were eroding away. But he didn't intend to fault you for that because you did not have sole ownership of the reason _why_. He saw himself in a similar situation once, and it changed his life so profoundly that his own family barely knew who he was anymore before the Uchiha Massacre. If only they could see him now...years later, Itachi was in the greatest of all terrorist organizations to continue and protect Konoha. Talk about a mixed message. Regardless of that, he planned every last move, even plotting beyond his own death when the time came. Except he failed to take into account that a special person would get involved, and manage to make him break his rule about letting people into his life, _period_ , after what happened. He couldn't allow himself to develop another point of weakness, or else Madara would exploit it and start tugging his strings again.

That special person was you, Gyaku Saiya, a woman with a gnarled black heart, maimed stump of a conscience and one hell of a stubbornness issue, who like him had been raised from a young age to be a killing machine, to be as close to perfect as possible. Another prodigy like himself; there were precious few in the world. Itachi was watching his special person go through a contorted parallel of the exact same nightmare he survived in agony from for _years_.

“Itachi.” You broke the silence, intuiting his concerns. “I’m not going to let it happen.” He had been staring at you, while you drew your legs against your chest and hugged your knees. You glared at a spot of bedding to the left of your heel.

“I told Konan and Pein-sensei that I learned I was raised to be used; but that ends here. I won’t let it happen.” Looking up, you shook your head. “I refuse to let history repeat itself.” You were so indecisive recently, so this was a departure from such ambivalence. You were angry with Pein, then switched back to being respectful of him. You were cruel, and then kind, and then cruel again. And plenty more than that which didn't make sense ordinarily. But you were finally trying to make decisions. Itachi felt like he could get behind that, perhaps he could help stop this whole thing from spiraling out of control. In any case, it was best to try and stay with the curve for now, but trying to prevent something from occurring often caused more problems better avoided. “In moving to stop an event,” He answered quietly. “We set it in motion.”

“Then let it go, and go with the flow.” You voiced boldly. “I’ll let go, alright. I have to hurt someone to get out of this situation, one way or another.” You nodded, as if sure of it. “The stage is set. Whether Madara planned for all this to happen or not, I don’t know and I can’t guard against it now. But I am going to take those who have been loyal to me and make a new order, if I can. I'm sick of being jerked around.” You were mustering all your anger, all your will, and your strength. These are components needed, to be forged into one deadly yet intangible thing. “I will go to Sasuke.” You lowered your voice dangerously, as if sensing that a glass was pressed to the door. “And I’ll speak to those who followed me for so long. If they choose to go with me or against me, that’s their decision. But there is one more thing I must learn to do with my Ghost Aspect.” You made eye contact with Itachi and he nodded his head once, reading your thoughts. 

“It won't be easy.” He warned.

“Nothing ventured; nothing gained.” Came your response. “But I need to know one thing Itachi.”

You saw the curiosity fill his eyes.

“Are you with me?”

The other watched you for a moment before reaching over and pulling your body against his in an embrace. He didn’t know what he was feeling. It was that bizarre sensation within him again. He felt it so long ago and had gotten that sensation more and more often these days.

“Until the end.” He whispered.

 

 _Days Later…_

 

You had been training relentlessly. Itachi was with you when he could be, otherwise he was doing whatever it was that he was ordered to do. Lately that hadn’t been much of anything. But tensions were mounting, sexual and otherwise. In the Akatsuki lair neither of you dared touch each other in an intimate fashion because you both knew well what it would amount to. Yes, it was getting closer and closer, for certain animal urges to be fulfilled. You writhed in bed, having dreams and nightmares, suffering images and the want to have him _inside_ of you, even if it was just once, to stem this need. Training with him was making it worse. Seeing that incredible body in motion? Getting disarmed and restrained, pinned against a wall, thrown around and unable to retaliate because your head was stuck in the gutter? Uh, yeah. Go figure.

These dreams turned up to an all-time high since days ago when you both sort of made the agreement to be together. It wasn’t a very formal agreement but it was not _nothing_ , either. He agreed to be with you ‘until the end’, and you made the same vow. Though it sounded a little like marriage, it was not. He was your special person, and you were his. Every shinobi has one. Eventually. While it was initially about where alliances lie, the response had a different tone to it, and you were both reading between the lines on that one.

That aside, Madara hadn’t been seen around too often, and the moments you had seen him were ones where he made a point of asking how much longer you intended to put off your mission. But you never answered him and pretended as if Orange-face was an ugly spot on the wall.  
In the times between training and playing with the wise idea of coaxing Itachi into the torture chamber for a bit of fun (that man’s naked, flawless body straining against chains, made helpless for you to have your way with him…you shivered in _need_ at the thought of it.)…well, aside from all that, you were pulling prisoners from the cells to use for experimentation. You needed a living subject for this new jutsu you were working on. So far it was one infuriating, gruesome failure after another. 

For now you took a break from progress and decided to run another experiment for the sheer hell of it; to see how well the human body can adjust to given circumstances. It always fascinated you, how people can acclimate to conditions. For now you were refining a new poison. This was for a request from some time ago that you still planned to honor. Now maaaaybe that whole thing before had been Itachi's equivalent of a joke in poor taste, but you decided it would be entertaining to take it to heart as an actual request.

It was especially cruel to the male prisoners, this new experiment. You were figuring out exactly how to make them sterile. Although you often mused on how funny it would be to make Sasuke’s semen turn to acid so it burnt all the way out the next time he fucked Naruto or did a Five-Fingered Mary. Then the ejaculation would burn his hand, too.

Though as it turned out, medical shinobi aren’t too well acquainted with the reproductive systems, so this was the time you took to study up. You asked Itachi jokingly once if he’d like to help you study the sexual organs.

Yeah, the reaction had been priceless… _for him_ , because he decided to follow you downstairs to the prison and in the hall, he had pushed you against the wall, gripped your thighs and pinned you between himself and the wall, groins flush together through clothing while his mouth plundered yours viciously. A minute later be broke the kiss and smirked, leaning his head back. “I thought you meant _now_.”

You stared at him, wide eyed and blushing. “Do that again and I swear I’ll—“

“You’ll what?”

As it turns out that was an extremely good way to make you close your mouth, color cherry red and slip away. It was not possible to offer an answer when you weren't even sure what you were about to threaten him with. He chased with a diabolical smile and you stopped running down the halls upon turning down a dead-end, slightly out of breath, and held your hands up. “Ok! Ok. I give up! You win!”

In those small ill lit hallways, Itachi had walked up to you, radiating smugness and pride, and pressed you back against the wall of this dead-end and kissed you again, turning his head and closing his eyes, sliding his tongue in without permission, kissing you deeply and _hungrily_ …the ‘Why, yes! I’d like to fuck you hard until you scream and beg.’ sort that dissolved you effortlessly into a bundle of quivering female nerves and soft, mindless whimpers for the duration of such a mind-blowing make out session.

He parted from you and you watched him turn and leave, cocky as ever, (the bastard!), his black cloak whispering in his wake. You let yourself slide down the wall and sit there, stunned. 

Oh…my… _fucking_ ….god.


	32. A Fool's Errand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Preparations are made before going to the Sound Ruins.

A Fool’s Errand

 

Twas' a chore, this fabrication of a new poison. You were having issue after issue with it and by now you were in the library pawing through all the books and documents to find any medical tomes that held some pointers on the reproductive system. So far there was nothing, so you sighed, got up, and went to leave the library in time for Konan to come walking in with a few scrolls under her arm.

“Oh, Saiya-chan.” She was surprised to see anyone in this room at all. Usually it was just her, sometimes Pein, and Madara when he felt so inclined to delve into the reports filed here. You gave a brief smile and continued to leave.  
“Saiya?”

You paused at the door and turned to look over your shoulder at her.

“Pein and I talked a lot after you left.”  
You continued to watch her and she went to the table and put her scrolls down. “It’s just that…well, he and I aren’t happy with this situation either.” She brushed away some blue strays from her forehead. “I know that you have been used more than most of us but—“

“Did you have a point to make?”

She closed her open mouth and swallowed down a little saliva, sitting down, fingers tugging the hem of her cloak sleeves over hands as far as she could. Why was she so damn nervous? You are her best friend. This shouldn't be hard to talk about. It was unusual for her to be so twitchy. “We want to end this charade. And Saiya, you really don’t have to go through with this Sasuke mission. We can find another way.”

“No.” You said, turning more towards her, and fit a shoulder against the edge of the wall. “I _want_ to do this now. Some of my best people are over there. Once I find out if they are there by their own free will, or if they are being held prisoner, I will make a decision from there. Plus, I've got other business there.” You lowered your head a little, placing one bare hand on the door frame above your head, stretching your shoulder and back. You focused on the wooden floor. “A lot has happened. I’ve invested a bit of my life in Akatsuki already.” You made eye contact with her again. “We have our conflicts of interest but here are people whom can actually work with me, who don’t necessarily hate me for my life choices or my little quirks. Not always, anyway. Konan, do you know how hard it is to find a place like that?”

“Of course I do.” She whispered, clutching at the hems of her sleeves all the harder.

“You had a hard time finding a place where you belonged.” You went on to say, and then glanced along the rows of shelving. The files, the books, all meaningless pieces of crap in the grand scheme of things. And yet they represented so much. There were records of the past in here. 

“You and sensei, that is.”

“We did.” She conceded.

“The only one who needs to go are those who would use us and go against us, Konan.” You said, narrowing your eyes at the books, and glanced up when a motion caught your eye. It was a lone moth, battering its dusty wings against one of the lights in the ceiling. You watched it. “So Madara is the one who needs to go. Not us. Akatsuki wasn't his charge to begin with from what I understand. But it didn't take long for the group to become what it is now.”

“Right.” Konan murmured softly, thoughtfully. Somehow she didn't like this. 

Then you gave a bitter laugh. “What a joke, Konan.”  
Her eyes widened and she looked up. “Huh?”  
“The men in my life contradict each other so solidly that I won’t know what to do with myself soon!”  
Her eyebrows furrowed. “Saiya, what are you..?”

“Pein-sensei, a warmonger. And of course there is Itachi, a peace keeper if ever there was one.” You were chuckling a little hysterically under your breath, sounding like a female Kisame for a moment there, unable to contain your laughter so it shook your voice. Konan’s eyes couldn’t get any wider as it dawned on her what you just said. Your teacher and leader and in a twisted way, father-figure were a given…but Itachi?!

“Saiya, you and Itachi?!”  
You stopped laughing, grinned, and nodded once, your eyes smiling as well this time. Konan burst up from her chair and went across the room to you, as though she needed to see your face up close to believe it. “I can’t believe it! After all this time, finally you are together?! It’s happened?!”  
“Well uh, not ‘it’ just yet, but close enough.” You said, reflexively running your fingers through your hair. Konan threw her arms around you and laughed. “Saiya that’s _incredible_.”

You flinched for a moment but then hugged her back. This was the silliest you’d seen Konan act, but you learned back in Anarchy that deep down, there was a part of her that was still just a young girl. Hell, you were like that too from time to time. “I really am happy for you, I know how it was for you, how you’ve always had an eye on him.” She pulled away and tilted her head. “You _do_ realize you’ve made an enemy out of about 75% of the female population now don’t you?”

It was your turn to be nearly bug eyed. “Fuck. That’s right, I have now haven’t I?” You were so used to Itachi that you didn’t think of how coveted he really was. He was unique, but for the most parts, he wasn’t a god like ladies all around made him out to be. Itachi was his own man. There were none like him. But you had wanted to take that ‘god’ down off his pedestal. Because what is the point in having a god if they are of no use, cannot be touched in any way? Perhaps that’s why you agreed to stick to Jashinism as well; the proof was a man who you fought alongside with very well indeed. The faith’s beliefs worked fine with you too, and you followed them to a degree anyway with all the torture and killing. And then aside from him was Kakuzu who believed in business, not heaven and hell, just like how you had been raised. You understood each other and had some aligned interests. The dry yet witty banter and ability to fight in synch with him as well was a huge plus.

Itachi, a prodigy and a man who lived the same circumstance you were in a parallel, and someone whom you did not even like at first, but soon saw eye to eye with him…and lived to tell the tale, at that. Not many can look Uchiha Itachi in the eyes and survive it. And now, he was special to you.   
Kisame…wait, was there a comparison there? Kisame had been considerate of you, watched over you like a brother does and didn’t write you off when you first entered Akatsuki. Deidara and Sasori; you had found yourself attracted to them at first, only to fall in bad standing with them. But Deidara used to make you laugh and get into play-fights with you all the time on purpose for the sake of goofing off you supposed. And there was Tobi. He was stuck to you since he met you. But now you knew why, and it _really_ boiled your blood.  
Zetsu. His origin is the same as your own, and there was no real kinship there. You both fought in the past, but did not currently harbor ill will.  
Konan. She showed up with Pein, and she had been coldly polite to you at first. But she warmed up and became your best friend and you could be silly and talk about men and say what you wanted to her. It was comforting.  
Last but never least there is Pein, of course. You knew him as a child. He raised you to be a better kunoichi than your other sensei, and for that matter, spent more time with you than your own family did since you trained with him often as possible. You tried to follow his ninja way and were able to utilize all elements and a huge array of abilities because of his guidance.

“Saiya? Saiya, are you ok?” Konan shook you and you started out of your reverie. “Oh sorry.”

“It’s fine. You drifted off on me there.”

“I was just thinking. Like always.” And you frowned. “Ok. I've got to finish what I was doing. But to do that I need to get at some information. Is there a library in the nearest city?”

“I would assume so. But why?”

You chuckled. “One day Konan, it will all be made clear. For now though, I haven’t any time to waste. Madara’s breathing down my neck.”  
She nodded and watched you leave, then drew a sigh and spotted the moth. It was settled on the top edge of a light fixture, fluttering its wings sporadically. 

Meanwhile you headed out, encountering Deidara and Sasori on the way through. Sasori was perusing a file folder and Deidara was playing with some clay, ambling alongside the redhead. You brushed by Sasori, but as you did so, you were halted in your tracks by a hand that had grasped your sleeve. Your brow furrowed slightly as you awaited an explanation.

“When I awoke,” Sasori began. “You weren’t there, nor were there any signs that you had been.”

“Actually if you want to get technical,” You drawled. “I wasn’t even _near the building_ when I resurrected you.”   
Two sets of eyes widened, and you slapped Sasori’s hand from your arm. “No tricks this time.” You said. “Sasori; you’re free, living with no strings attached…” You ran your fingers through your hair and moved onwards down the hall. “…So to speak.”  
“Saiya, how? Hn?”

You kept walking. “One question leads to another. Got better things to do than answer the domino effect.” You paused once and looked over your shoulder at them, one vibrant eye visible over the high collar of your cloak. “Consider us even.”

Sasori, with a sigh, closed the file folder and started walking towards you, the file now swaying in his hand by his thigh. “Saiya.” Deidara followed Sasori out of curiosity and continued to smooth the wad of warm clay with his thumbs.   
“What more could you _possibly_ want from me?“

“Truce?”

You turned around fully towards him, eyes ridden with doubt and cynicism, and folded your arms. “If this turns out to be another one of your tricks Sasori, I will kill you.”  
“If it were a trick, it's a rather poor one.” Sasori responded patiently. Your eyes flickered towards Deidara. He had a black eye after all, and you sighed. “If a truce is being made, why not make it two for one?”  
Dei blinked and nodded once, as did Sasori, and you nodded in turn. “Ought we to sign in blood?”

They exchanged a glimpse of disbelief, and you shrugged nonchalantly. “Thought I’d suggest it. But your signature is only as good as your word and your own will to enforce it. So if you don’t mind, I’ll take your word for it, seeing as how they all equate the same value.” You smirked and began heading down the hallway. “I’m out.”

Sasori and Deidara exchanged weird looks again and when they turned back, you were gone.

 

_Next Evening…_

 

Delicious smells were wafting from the kitchen area. The men would soon drop by for some dinner, but for now you had some peace. Dishes of food were spread out at the island area, and you were at the table reclined in the corner where there was a cushioned bench pressed in against the wall, as it is sometimes in booths at a restaurant. The other side of the table had chair seating. Soon Pein and Konan came in, and not far from them was Itachi, who had arisen from his meditation to both see you and eat.   
But you apparently took no notice of anyone where you were nestled in the corner with a stack of formidable looking medical books, and another was in hand. You turned a page and Konan quirked one eyebrow, moving around the island to grab a plate. Pein paused to watch you for a moment before deciding to copy Konan. Itachi, who felt as if he were starving, had already begun to fill his plate up.

When Konan went to open the walk-in fridge, you gave a funny little cough and said, “Oh if there’s a corpse in the freezer, don’t be shocked, mk?”

“Saiya! Is that where one of the servants went to?!” Konan’s usual relaxed mood was always swapped for something more… _quixotic_ around you, or rather, it was better said in other words that she was less dreary when you were around. Yeah, you had that effect on people. Itachi sat down with food and drink and pulled his chopsticks apart. He began eating without a noise or single bad manner, not far from you, against the wall as well. 

“Saiya is studying.” Pein observed calmly, going into the fridge to get sake. “This is a sight I have not seen for many years now.”

“Yes, yes she is.” You remarked blandly, flipping the page and tilting your head to address the following page.   
“Ah, but what and why is Saiya studying?” Konan asked. She sat down in a chair, and Pein did as well with a plate of food, bottle of sake, and a small cup. He turned his chair around backwards so he could sit the incorrect way, with the back of the chair to the edge of the table.   
“Saiya is learning about the birds and the bees, since she didn’t learn about these things in med training.” You said, again with the bored tone. Actually it was that you were focused, and now you propped the ball of your right heel against the edge of the seat so you could lean your book against your thigh and thus free a hand for eating and drinking.   
Konan made an odd gagging noise, coughed, and took a drink of tea. “And you are how old?”

“Despite your being female Konan, you must never ask me my age, as I have a vagina and am both licensed and inclined not to tell you.” 

You didn’t catch the fleeting smirks on three different faces. Pein had forgotten how you were when hitting the books; but strange is one way to put it. You’d often come up with sentences that most people don’t mix together; mainly because you were trying to do a couple things at once; read, digest information, talk, and in this case, eat.   
Without warning the sound of a book clapping shut snagged attention, and you set the heavy thing down to trade it for another. “Finally, last one.”

“Did you get those from that library you were asking me about?” Konan asked, jabbing her chopsticks at you after swallowing a mouthful. You gave a nasal ‘Mmmhmm’ and she continued, gesturing at you again with the chopsticks. “Did you check them _out_?”

“Nah.”

“Pein, you’ve raised a thief.”

“Oh please Konan; I assure you that I’ll put these books to better use than anyone else who touches them.” You scoffed. 

“You stole them. You’re a thief.”

“Pfft, fine…but I’m _God’s_ thief. It's justified.”

Pein lifted a vermillion eyebrow but said nothing, except Konan cleared her throat to say another thing in retort. “Which god? You worship Jashin, is that the one?”

“As it turns out my sensei also has a rather intriguing god complex.”  
“Well he is a god.” Konan answered flatly.  
“I could make a perverse comment except you are childhood friends.”  
“My my, you have gotten cocky lately.” Konan declared. “Don’t you think she is a bit out of line sometimes, Pein?”  
Pein did as he had once before and shrugged indifferently, pouring himself some more sake. “She should have a backbone.” Mostly though, this was his method of saying,' I don't give a shit.'

“See? It’s fine. I acknowledge that he’s god….like. Ish. I do as I’m ordered to do. This is nothing by comparison.” You flicked another page and turned the book so it was sideways, your purple eyes wide. “Oooh, that’s very detailed.”  
Konan read the spine of the book and resisted the urge to smack a hand over her face. 

**The Male Reproductive System- Sixth Edition**

“Have mercy Saiya, we’re eating.”  
“Never.” You grinned over the edge of the book, eyes alight with mischief. _”Ever.”_ And then, on another note, “Pein-kami-sensei?”  
He blinked ever-so slightly at the addition to his name. “Yes?”

“Ooh, he answers!” You almost giggled, having expected he wouldn't. “We never finished the tournament, eh?”

Konan put her plate in the sink and shot you a look again. “Are you attempting to get the others in trouble?”  
“Ohhh, I don’t know. It seems like it would be good for them.”  
“That would include you too Saiya.”  
“I know I haven’t gotten sloppy!” You declared loudly. “Why, I’ve been training constantly!” Then you affected the facial expression of one who has run out of oxygen and dropped the book like a hot cake, placing a hand dramatically over your heart instead. “No thank you. I cannot read it any longer. My innocent eyes!”

“Yes. Innocent describes you well.” Itachi remarked coolly. He was sort of amused right now. You were in rare form today. It’s been quite some time since you last acted so…cute. Sort of.  
“Right then! I’m done eating and I’ve got things to do.” You said while standing up, placed your dishes in the sink and put the books under one arm. “After this is taken care of I need to go figure out where Sasuke’s gone off to.” You grumbled. “But why do I get the feeling I am going to both regret and enjoy this?” 

By the time you got to the room acting as a laboratory near the torture chambers, Itachi was already leaning against the wall next to the door. You smiled at him and kissed him on the cheek before opening the door. “Be warned, it ain’t pretty.”

He closed his eyes and followed you inside, which had you laughing on the way in. “Ahaha, what’s that mean to me exactly? That you don’t care or you’re afraid to see?”

Itachi opened his eyes as you flipped on the lights. There were three men strapped down to separate tables at the end of the room, and you were satisfied at the sight of it. “Good. The servants were paying attention when I yelled at them.” You gestured with a thumb to the men who were all quiet and still. They must’ve been sedated. “Lab rats.” You set the books down and pulled latex gloves on, even over your Akatsuki ring, the symbol of which read ‘Sky’.   
“Hopefully I won’t need to go through many more of these people. I’ll have to start kidnapping random young men from their homes if this batch fails.”

“Why not continue using the same ones?”

“Depends on if they survive.” You said. “What I intend to do is make it impossible for Sasuke to have children and I refuse to touch his dick since he might decide to use me to revive the clan in more ways than one, but quite honestly I believe he’s homo. If he tries to rape me I will rip him limb from limb.”  
You didn’t see Itachi’s reaction to the idea that his little brother might try to fuck you. His black eyes transformed into Sharingan and the tomoe in turn melded together with the pupil to form the shuriken-shaped Mangekyou…only for a split second before he controlled it and forced it away, closing his eyes and turning his back. Itachi loved his little brother or else Sasuke would be dead. And you could more than protect yourself. Yet Itachi was devoured by a murderous, territorial impulse at the thought that another man would try and take you for himself. While crushing herbs to remove the fluid from them you paused and blinked at your new boyfriend, black ponytail swaying against the middle of your back when you moved. ”What’s wrong?”

Usually it was the other way around, with him always knowing your mind because you didn’t guard it. But this time he was the one caught with his guard down. And you played it off as nothing, but hiding behind mental walls of your own, you realized just what a situation Itachi was in once again. You didn’t know if he actually loved you but there were strong ties there, or else he would not have agreed to stick by you forever, and you by him as well. Kisses wouldn't be shared, innuendo-laden barbs wouldn't be exchanged. You were going to ruin Sasuke, that was your mission right now. And Itachi was 'making' you develop a nasty chemical vasectomy. He was purposefully asking you to make matters worse for his younger brother. You wondered why he asked it of you awhile ago, if it actually was a joke turned serious. So, you inquired.

“Itachi do you mind telling me why you’re having me do this? Did you mean for it to go like this?"  
His blood hued eyes roved towards the three men laying bound to tables. Three tomoe began to rotate around that black abyss of a pupil in thought since he no longer concentrated in stopping them from moving or changing. “It has come to my attention that Sasuke is very far gone.” Itachi began, softly spoken, as though someone was sleeping in the room. Those men were not. They were barely twitching from whatever kept them compliant, and there were other small signs that they were aware.  
“This, specifically? I admit that it was a joke in poor taste, I was surprised at myself when I came out with it. But otherwise? At first Sasuke turned out to be exactly how I had hoped. But plans can always go awry. And they have.”

“What did you plan for him exactly?” You glanced over to where water was boiling in a beaker, and then picked up a vial from a pack of items you left sitting open on the table. It was pale blue in color, similar to a diluted energy drink. You took out also what looked like a dime bag of a powdered black and gray substance that resembled ground pepper.   
“To protect him.” Itachi said. This sort of answered the question. At the same time it sounded like no response at all, but nevertheless you ignored that part and raised your eyebrows inquisitively. “From?”

“Madara.”

You began stirring substances together with a glass rod and turned to him as you did so cautiously. “Madara seems to be at the center of the wheel. We’re all revolving around him for one reason or another.” You checked the contents of the beaker, then continued stirring. “He has done what no individual should do; and taken it upon himself to deal a hand of Fate in a profound manner.”

“Be that as it may he must be stopped.” Itachi said, and turned around to see what you were doing. You stopped stirring the fluid around and picked up the beaker of now black fluid and shifted it around slightly to see how thick it was. It didn’t even coat the sides of the beaker when you moved it. “So far so good, consistency wise anyway.” You commented quietly, and then picked up a vial of a viscous honey colored substance. “This is the base of my own poison.” You explained to Itachi as you shook the capped vial and then unscrewed it carefully. “The base alone has twelve components. When mixed with two other reagents, altogether my poison has over one hundred components. With so much to it, there is hardly a single person left who was capable of coming up with an antidote in time. It’s a combination of toxins that attacks various parts of the body at once. The only downside is that it takes a bit too long to work, so I use more than one kind depending on my needs.” You sighed. “Come to think of it, a small village in Kusagakure came up with something. But I made certain they were all slain. Hopefully none got away.”

Itachi might not have been listening to you ramble but he _was_ watching you work. Most of these items only had a couple of initials along an edge of whatever packaging they were in. Otherwise you were working your way around these items with their purposes memorized. You weren’t stopping him from doing so, so he was reading your mind to understand what it was you were doing, what it was you were intending to put into his brother. 

Of the base you showed to him, you didn’t use a lot. It was two drops. That was all. You looked up at him finally and said, “Are you regretting this already?”

Itachi didn’t say anything at first, but his expression said it all. 'This is foolish. You don't have to do it. _Don't_ do it.' Seeing the look on his face, you sighed. “Look Itachi, I know you admitted that this was a joke, but its probably for the better that he doesn’t reproduce. He’d teach hate to his children. Another generation of Sasukes…not exactly appealing. Do you really want the new Uchiha Clan raised under that mental condition? If Sasuke fails in his mission, one of his progeny will likely try and continue their father's vengeance." After a moment, you gave a tiny cough. "Admittedly I'm not one to talk about 'hate', but then, Pein raised me on a strict diet of dog eat dog." You stepped closer and kissed him, carefully keeping your arm extended away with the vial tucked gently between gloved fingers. He kissed you back briefly, and you leaned your forehead to his hitai-ate for the moment, voice dropping lower. “Besides. There’s nothing wrong with _your_ dick is there?”  
Fuck, if that doesn’t verbally grab a man by the balls when he’s least expecting it! Itachi watched you warily as you shifted back towards the work table and loaded three syringes, then and went to the captives and turned your left hand into a ghost hand. You hovered your translucent palm over the first man's lower stomach and your eyes also glowed purple, and upon apparently seeing what you wanted and took one of the rather formidable looking syringes with a four inch long needle and drove it into the man’s flesh. He shuddered and let out an injured yelp, during which you narrowed your ghostly glowing eyes.  
“I could’ve done worse. Be quiet.” You snapped. He emitted a pathetic whimper of discomfort and you picked up a fresh syringe, only to move on to the second victim. This one didn’t move.   
The third however flipped out and started calling you a crazy bitch and to leave him the fuck alone. You paid him no mind. You’d treat test subjects better when you wanted reliable results from them.

“Trial and error.” You said to Itachi and shrugged, now tossing away the spent needles. “Time to wait.” You put the things you used away and took the gloves off. “Shall we?”

Itachi, with his mind far away on what you said about his dick (as such, was thinking about sex like any rational person) awoke from his thoughts and gave you the once-over instead of his eyes meeting straight with yours. You burst out laughing and opened the door, turned the light off, and he followed you, closing the door behind him. “No matter how indifferent you attempt to be Itachi, you’re still male.”

“Hn.”

You snorted and moved to exit the dungeon, Itachi leaving with you but peeling off in a separate direction to attend to issues of his own. You were sad to see him go but thoroughly understood. It was good for you both to be on your own for purposes of business, and it was also not wise to overtly broadcast your newborn relationship.  
In any case, there was still much to be done. A good part of that relied on waiting. For now you could focus your spare energy on Itachi when he was around, and also on other things. You were making your ever-unseen informants work double time to discover where Sasuke was. As it turned out he was back in the Sound Nation and had a portion of it rebuilt at the core of the main town, so far inwards from the sprawl that one would have to be really looking for it to find these headquarters of theirs. You were sitting up late into the morning ripping open scrolls recently delivered to you by the young Hyuuga from Anarchy, who had agreed to meet up with you at a specified contact point and also convey orders from you to those same informants whom he’d been communicating with on your behalf. He was blatantly thrilled to have a hand in matters of apparent importance. This was essentially a promotion for him; when he conveyed your messages, his word was basically tantamount to your own. Hyuuga Tatsuo effectively became your emissary. And after all he survived through on your behalf, he damned well deserved that title. 

So far you had been working around the clock to complete this tincture and learned a great deal in the process. It had been so long since you’d sat through hours of book study and experimentation. It felt like your last year at the Academy in Kusagakure. That had been during the time that Pein had to leave you and cloud your memory so he could later resume your training, if that was indeed his intention.

Finally the sleep deprivation had sunk in after nearly a week of it. You were in the living room curled up against one arm of a couch with a sealed scroll from Tatsuo. What must have happened was you sat down, got comfortable right away, and then passed out. But you awoke with a start at the feeling of a pair of arms hefting your whole body up. “Ah!”

Kisame’s voice quavered with laughter as usual. “This is familiar!”

You cast a weary amethyst gaze here and there, then sighed and rested your head against his shoulder again. He didn’t seem to mind anyway and continued walking to your room. “I haven’t seen you around much Blue-kun.” You touched your fingertips to the space below your eyes as though expecting to feel the bags there, but its hard to figure much of anything out when so exhausted. Your eyes must have been horribly bloodshot and your movements were sluggish. It was never a wise plan for a shinobi to go for long without rest. It puts them at a disadvantage. Sleep deprivation can have the same effects as drunkenness.  
“I have a lot of missions goin’ on.”  
“But Itachi is your partner and I never see him leave…” You began, only for him to cut in.  
“S’because Leader has me go with Tobi or Zetsu.” He thought about it, and decided that this was the best thing to say right now. Plus, he wasn't into carrying you around like this out of the goodness of his heart. Madara had him spying on you, and whenever he carried you to your room, he would also have a quick glance around on Madara's behalf per instructions, to see if there was anything out of the ordinary. He didn't always get a good chance to inspect the room, since you could potentially roll over and wake up, but for now he was on your good side and Madara needed somebody like that. Itachi was a bust right now.

Perhaps the shark man didn't outright recognize the flaw in admitting that. Even in this groggy state you were immediately suspicious. But you would not say anything. Kisame must not realize that you were much better informed about things as they stand these days. Or he was up to something. Except Kisame doesn't outwardly appear to be the type for that ordinarily.  
“Thanks for the lift.” You said when he let you stand outside your room. He nodded, told you that if you didn’t sleep you’d have eyes like Kakuzu, and ambled away. You sighed and headed into your room. He was probably right. You didn’t dare take a peek in the mirror within your miniscule bathroom. You wished you could stay with Itachi in his room. It was a bit bigger, and besides...Itachi's there! But the lack of space didn't matter all that much. Though the longer you lived here, the more these cramped quarters began to annoy you.

You set the scrolled report on your dresser beside your hitai-ate and belt with the bags o’ tricks, changed into the comfiest pajama pants and ratty old t-shirt in your possession, and hauled your beleaguered self under the blankets.

The next day you were in no mood to waste precious minutes with a meal and consumed the last soldier pill you had to stem the hunger before it started. After getting ready for the day you went straight to the prison. It was time to check the results of your experiment. The other experiment before this one had a mild success, but you were so sick of trying to progress any further that you settled for what you managed to get out of it for now. A new way to use your Ghost Aspect, and it would only be useful depending on the situation; since it was such a shaky new jutsu that you were still exploring, it was tough to maintain and you were certain in a real battle the targets would be a good deal more resistant than your human lab rats.   
That aside you were looking over the results of the sterility experiment. And it proved to be the best news you had gotten in days; the tincture was a success. These men were barren as the desert, and they were experiencing weakness as well in all their muscles. It was to be expected. You got them to talk; and they agreed that they all felt more like they were getting sick with a nasty cold than anything else. Then you killed them since they had exceeded their use. If this batch of tests weren't much of an improvement; you would've settled anyhow. But the take-home is that you wanted an excuse to stab Sasuke in the junk. You didn't say that to Itachi's face, considering after all this that he didn't want you to go through with it. And he would probably feel that sticking a needle into his brother's nether region would be going a tad overboard, if not simply rude to begin with.

As you packaged up the tincture and several other things into a scroll, you turned it over and over in your head why Itachi would back out on this request at all. It was such a small thing really. Almost useless. He said that ‘Sasuke was too far gone’ and all but came out and said that what he intended to manipulate his brother into thinking and doing was dead in the water. Was there something more aside from what you already knew?

You finished packing up and glanced around the room before poofing all the items you wanted into the storage scroll and rolled the object up, putting in a pack on your belt beneath your cloak. Hmm, your _cloak_. You should probably leave it behind. Wearing that while working with Sasuke could send the wrong message to any outsiders. Now that could be what Madara wants; to lump Team Hebi and Akatsuki together, but you weren’t about to directly cooperate with Madara’s mission details either. Madara had no idea he was sending one of his enemies out on one mission, only for you, that very enemy, to do another mission of her own making instead. You refused to be the walking billboard which declares that Uchiha Sasuke has Akatsuki backing him up. Admittedly though, with his brother in Akatsuki, most wouldn't think it a likely alliance to begin with considering the gallons of bad blood between him and Itachi.

In any case, this was going to be interesting. You went to Pein first to let him know you were heading out and see what he might have to say, if anything. When you found him he was ‘alone’ in the usual room. You came in without your cloak on and had also hidden your ring. “Pein-sensei.”

He nodded. “I know. You are going to that mission now.”

“Yes.” You hesitated. “Is there anything I need to know or must do? This is an opportunity unlike any other.” Pein watched you with his intense Rinnegan. He was thinking.   
“Madara has plans involving Sasuke.” Pein began slowly. “Do all that you can to sabotage him.” The ringed gray eyes narrowed with infectious cruelty.   
“I will likely have to stay with them for as long as it takes.” You said.  
“So be it.” Pein responded. “Until then, Gyaku Saiya.”  
You gave pause and seeing as how the mood was set here anyway, and you wouldn’t see sensei for a long time (once, in this exact same spot, you had said ‘I will not disobey you.’), you half bowed and materialized out of sight. But the cold still lined your inner being after leaving his presence. Not a bad sort of ‘cold’. Twas’ more like the ‘stone cold killer’ type. It was time to get down to business. You felt a familiar battle-worn calm close over your whole being, as though you were staring down an opponent; your face displayed no emotions, but your eyes maintained an embedded edge of malice. Get too close; and be maimed. It was the same expression Pein got. You didn't realize that you'd developed the same one over the years.

You had one more stop to make, and that was to see Itachi. 

When you had gone, Konan chuckled softly. “I wonder Pein. Is she ready _now_?”  
Although there were two party’s definitions on if you were ‘ready’ or not. Perhaps by now you had filled that quota for both, or at least one.

Pein did not move. His eyes were on the spot of floor you had previously occupied.   
“Ready…to be the Left Hand of God.”

Konan’s fingers nimbly altered a square of white origami into a crane, and she fingered its sharp edges mindlessly. But she wore a vague smile that was barely there, as she understood what this meant.

Damned if she didn’t, because Konan is the Right Hand of God herself.  
Lady Angel. God’s Angel.  
By default, didn't that make you the Devil?

 

_With You…_

Itachi had not been in his room. He was outside training instead, and it was raining out. You lifted your head towards the sky, peering at the cloud choked expanse from under the edge of your black hood. As you had been before Akatsuki had acquired your allegiance, you were decked out in the usual black and purple attire, with the hooded shirt with the five-pointed Gyaku clan emblem splayed across your back. The hooded shirt was more like a hoodie with short sleeves, but you wore royal purple fishnet beneath it, and a black shirt over the fishnet with slightly shorter sleeves than your hooded top. There were black knee-high boots also and formfitting black pants.   
As you watched Itachi pause in his training you tugged at the hems of your half finger gloves. You’d bought new ones in Anarchy after the first pair had practically fallen apart. 

Itachi turned and walked towards you. It was hard to see his face clearly. The rain had soaked through his pitch black hair and he hadn't pushed back his bangs completely. That, and your hood was deep enough to partially obscure your vision. 

“I’ve got to leave now.” You told him through the falling rain.  
He closed his eyes, after that his eyelids parted to reveal that they had become Sharingan. He was silently directing your gaze to over his shoulder in a discreet manner now by looking to the far side without turning his head. You lifted your hands and ran your fingers around the edge of the hood, pulling it further over your head so you could assume your glowing ‘Eyes of the Dead’ and see what he was cautious about. Sure enough, far away was Kisame.  
You knew he had been acting weird. But for him to spy on his _own partner_ was taking it to a whole new level. Itachi was pretending not to notice.   
But clearly you had to play along and keep a lid on it that you and Itachi were a couple. So far no one aside from Konan knew. And she wouldn’t tell anyone except Pein maybe...that was perfectly fine in your book, but anyone else knowing it could cause problems. Sensei was too even-keeled to make it into a situation.

“Thought I’d let you know that I won’t be around to train.” You told Itachi in the same tone of voice. As though ‘nothing changed’ and you didn’t know Kisame was there.

Itachi made eye contact. He was cold and remote. It sort of hurt to see that he had regressed into his mechanical shell for now, but it was for a purpose. He knew as well that there was something not quite right about Kisame.

“Very well.” Itachi said.

You nodded, gave a grin and proceeded to walk around him. “Oh, y'know, I thought you’d care more than that, maybe tell me to give Sasuke a smack for ya.”

“….” He bit his tongue. Itachi didn’t want you to go through with this; Sasuke would now have your help but that doesn’t mean he’d let you go when the chance came to leave. And who knew _how_ much like Orochimaru he came to be? He could try to slap a curse mark on you and that would be that.  
Plainly put: this mission was idiotic. No one should have to endure it.

“No? Okay. I'm out, then.” You shot foreword to the tree line and was up on a branch in a moment, weaving around trunks and twigs to get to your destination. You paused on your way to frown down at Kisame. He looked up at you from under the brim of his hat. 

“I’m going now, Blue-kun.”

Either he really didn’t know, or he was playing stupid. “Huh? Where are you going all alone?”

“This is a mission only I can complete. I'm going solo.” You told him solemnly. Your eyes still glowed under your hood. He had a hard time seeing that at this angle.   
“So off I go.” You tipped off a mock salute with an invisible hat, and were gone. 

It was a long journey on foot. But you got there in a few days time and were walking through the ruined city, remembering this place all too vividly as you looked around from under the hood that you never let down. This is where you had been awakened. Pein broke the seal on your Ghost Aspect and you thought you were done for, only to have gained a new ability the likes of which had never been seen before. Ordinarily you didn’t condone Pein’s god complex, but you had to admit something. No ordinary man could do what he had done. That includes the forging of a powerful ability in another person. He wasn’t the same as other humans. And it would seem you were like that too; just not the same. You were…apparently…something _else_ now.   
Although you sure as hell felt human. You harbored no illusions that you were supernatural.  
Or was it that you were blind?

You shook these thoughts off and looked around. You had discovered the repaired section and kept walking. This place was bleak and it was hard to see any signs of life. The corpses were long gone, probably one of the few courtesies Konoha paid when they were here. 

“Gyaku Saiya.” 

You turned to see that Sasuke was standing on the roof of a house behind you. You sighed inwardly. This was going to hurt; you just knew it.

“That’s my name.” You responded.

“Why are you here?”

Silence, then, “Tch, I owed Madara one so he sent me here.” A lie. But not one he could disprove. At least not yet.

Sasuke was guiding his facial expression as always but he could hardly believe his ears. Did this mean what he hoped it would?

 

“Yeah, Uchiha. I hear you need a medic.”


	33. The Nerve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You are reunited with some old friends. Karin is put in her place, and then both her and Kabuto make an unusual and unnerving discovery.

The Nerve

 

You were walking down a hallway behind Sasuke. He seemed to take your word for this whole thing so far. You were glad of it.

“Where are we going, Hebi-teme?” You sneered. He did not give pause, moving straight on down the corridor.   
“You still refer to me as such now that you are here to help?”

You gave a derisive snort. “Please, Hebi-teme. I am here on orders; not free will. I'll do what I came here for and leave when its done. Don’t count on me sticking around longer than necessary.”

“And here I went to the trouble of gathering your team.” Sasuke drawled, and stopped, as you both had arrived at a set of double doors. He pushed them open.  
Light flooded into the dark hall and it took your eyes a moment to adjust; but you moved in after Sasuke. He was greeted by an ecstatic “Sasuke-kun!” And you nearly cringed at the sight of a vaguely familiar woman. Casting your violet gaze about the room, you saw that sure enough those same people from Anarchy were here now. The one with shark teeth, overly massive sword and blue-white hair…the unintelligent seeming oaf, and lastly, a woman with lipstick red hair that was let down into long, shaggy spikes. She wore glasses that gleamed in the high lighting. She took a moment to cringe herself though; now finally seeing you.

The brute stood up and was prepared to defend his comrades. They were all struck dumb by your presence. 

“If _-this-_ is the team you say you’ve gathered for me, I will turn and leave.” You growled in discontent. Sasuke pivoted so he could address the entire room.   
“Suigetsu, Jugo, Karin…this is Gyaku Saiya.” Sasuke said.

You sighed. “Call me crazy but I think they remember me…and that thing there,” You gestured to Karin, who grimaced and adjusted her glasses. “Probably smelled my chakra the second I set foot on the border.”  
“I have to pay you back for making me look stupid, bitch.” Suigetsu grated out and was on his feet in an instance. Your lips broadened into a huge, malignant grin, showing a little of your teeth. “Hah! It was you who was stupid enough to keep flailing away at a ghost, you and Jugo both, Suigetsu…” You turned your head more towards Sasuke. “My my, you know how to pick em’. Intellectual giants, all three!”

“Hey! We’re standing right here!” Karin protested angrily, her glasses flashing. You snickered lowly. “I wouldn’t bother saying it if you couldn’t hear.”

“Bitch!!”  
“Why, thank you. That’s the nicest compliment I’ve gotten all day.”  
“Oh you--!”  
“Rather touching actually.”  
“Gah!”  
“I think we have to hug now. How about it?”

“Enough, both of you!” Sasuke cut in. Suigetsu was rubbing the back of his head uncertainly, looking between you and Karin. Jugo plainly stared. You shrugged and after finding a small stitch in your back, began rolling your shoulders in place, and a couple cracks and pops were heard. “Alright then. Now what?”

“Saiya is here on a mission of her own.” Sasuke explained to the others, to which Suigetsu’s mouth fell open. “What? _That_ stuff, huh?”

“Regrettably so.” You voiced. “So if this isn’t them then whom is it?”  
“I think you already know. This way.” Sasuke headed to another door past the couches where Karin, Jugo and Suigetsu had been killing time. You followed him through a corridor lined with doors spaced generously apart. At the end it branched in two more directions. Sasuke headed left, then down some steep stairs. You began to hear voices halfway down. Familiar voices, and your heart leapt a little. Could it possibly be?! So, the reports were correct after all!

It was exactly the people you had been hoping to see. Nine sets of eyes swiveled to the staircase and the room went dead quiet when you stepped in.  
“This is the team.” Sasuke told you. “They'll work well with you, I assume.”

“Of course.” You murmured. “If they paid attention back then, that is.”

“Oh my god! Saiya-sama!” A woman squealed. She threw herself at you and you stared down at the top of her head. She was shorter than you (she came up to your chest); and that is indeed saying something. Not many are. You patted her on the shoulder. “It’s been awhile Kuri.”

“Awhile?!” She squeaked, slightly tearful. “It’s been _years_.” She let go of you, looking up with big mismatched cerulean and magenta eyes. The others came closer, tentatively, as though expecting their heads to get lopped off by your drawn stare. “Kuri, Isirami, Raiden, Rasura, Kai, Daisato, Hikaru, Akane, and Uryu. I understand that you’ve all gone through much on my behalf. I won’t blame you if you walk away from me now.” They seemed to let out a collective breath. You weren’t angry at them at all for saving themselves and no one else in the wine cellar incident. Equally, they feared you’d be upset with them for not contacting you at all after the fact. Aside from Hyuuga and a couple other informants (the ones who, aside from Mai, had been directly under you) these nine were your best. 

“Alright then, if no one intends to leave, I’m certain you know more about this new project than I do.” You said. The man named Uryu gave a bitter smile that was gone rapidly. “I will do my best to brief you on our progress as yet.”

“I'd prefer to have a quick look around first.” You responded. “For now continue in the same vein as you have been, everyone. I will intervene once I have a thorough understanding of the situation. Should you find yourselves uncertain of how to progress, begin work on another task and I will see what I can do for the problem later.” You nodded your head once to them. “That is all for now. Carry on.” They all were stunned at first, having nearly forgotten your ease with issuing commands; and to Sasuke you seemed to fall all-too neatly into place with your role as leader of these people, like how a cat always lands on its paws.   
But now they all milled around to get back to work since they were interrupted by your arrival. Sasuke turned full towards you, and you did the same. “So?”  
His hard stare flickered around the room. These people in black lab coats emblazoned with the Gyaku emblem were now redoubling their efforts and work speed. He found it strange that for a woman who eliminated her own relatives, you sure tended to use the clan symbol a lot, even going so far as having your subordinates wear it. He made eye contact with you and said, “There is still much to do before reviving my clan.” 

You raised an eyebrow. “Here’s a thought Sasuke; I can’t bring anyone back without the corpses or some form of DNA. Anything would do. But you’re talking about resurrecting men and women who are many years past six feet under. They will be badly decomposed, if not completely so.”

“I know that.”

“We are medics Sasuke. Not miracle workers.”

“You shall be provided with the proper materials.”

You sighed, exasperated, and rubbed your forehead as if to try and stave away a headache. “Here’s the thing.” You turned towards the room, watching them work. You couldn’t tell exactly what they were doing yet, having only just arrived, but you'd get around to that soon. “They learned a lot from me, but I did not actively train them. I have not taken on an apprentice, as I am still one myself.” You lifted a hand to lower your hood. “This means they don’t have the same expertise as I do.”

“Which is why _you're_ here now. Plus, they’re better than nothing.”

You were getting aggravated very fast. “What the _fuck_ is this all about, Uchiha? For real? This clan thing is going way too far. Bringing back these relatives of yours makes no goddamn sense!”

He ignored this. “They are watching over the group of volunteers whose bodies are being used to convert the energy of bijuu into human chakra.” He added, “Kabuto normally oversees it.”  
To this, you sighed and relented. Whatever it was, he didn't plan on letting you in on these secrets of his, and it was hard to fault him for that. While it makes your job a bit harder, you'd have to work around it until you had a better understanding of his motives. For now, there was plenty of other work to be accomplished. “And where is Kabuto now?”

“Resting.”

You wanted to bang your head into the door rather badly right now. Ok. Ok. It was going to be fine. You couldn’t make judgments yet. It was too soon to say that Sasuke didn’t know his lips from his butthole when it came to leadership.  
Gah. Ain’t that a bitch, now. One of Konoha’s proclaimed genius children was trying to run a group of medics. What a joke! At least he had Kabuto's help. One can say many things about Yakushi Kabuto, but anybody would have to agree that he is one of the best medics in the world. He deserved that much credit, at least.  
 _’I still think Sasuke doesn’t know his mouth from his asshole though. Both spew enough crap for me to wanna vomit.’_ You thought furiously, and changed the subject. “So out of curiosity what’re your plans? Is there going to be a raid on Konoha? Call me crazy but I get the idea that charging in armed with shovels with the purpose in mind of exhuming Uchiha clansmen won’t work very well. You know, shovel versus shuriken, you make the call, it’s kind of close huh?”

Nearby, Kai snerked in an attempt to not burst out laughing. You were being an asshole as usual; about as fluently as you breathed too. Hikaru elbowed him and continued recording information down on paper. Kai sucked in a deep breath and held it, still trying to stifle himself. Neither you nor Sasuke took note of this strange behavior. 

“A raid will be involved at some point.” Sasuke confirmed. “Of course it will be better planned out than that.” But he continued to keep you in the dark, and would refuse to elaborate as much as possible. Naturally there was a purpose to this, and it wasn't necessarily what you thought it was. Those corpses could be potentially useless by now, even to you. He needed them repaired to a state where they'd be _useful_ no matter what the circumstance may be.

“Okay. So let's ignore the grotesque error in planning.” You waved his comment aside. “I take it that Kabuto actually knows what’s going on here, unlike you?”  
Sasuke pretended not to hear you. “Karin is also working on this project.”

“In your room, or…”  
“No.”  
“Well perhaps you should. A good hard fuck ought to stifle her for a little while anyway, every time I see her she’s giggling to herself and swooning over you for some reason I honestly can’t understand.” You smirked. “Sure, maybe good looks run in the family, but you've completely detracted from that with your choice of hair and clothing.” You did the once over and moved around him to check his side profile. “I suspect that ridding yourself of the chicken butt on the back of your head and that giant purple bow on your ass _might_ improve the lady factor.” 

“You’ve got nerve talking like that. Don’t forget where you are.” Sasuke reprimanded shoddily, to which you sneered. “Just saying. You want the clan back? Well Sasuke, I hate to be the one to tell you this…since, you know, your parents weren’t around at puberty—“  
Then you saw straight away that you had hit a nerve. Sasuke tensed, his nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed harshly. When he spoke, his voice was nearly a feral growl. “Do _not_ speak of them. You have no right.”  
But you paid no mind. “---but you need to have sex with a woman to have babies. Now I know that Uzumaki’s done well for his girlish figure and all, but, amazingly, he does _not_ have a uterus hiding between his butt cheeks. Its physically impossible.”

Sasuke was fixing to punch you, with his fingers knotting into fists so tight that his skin bled more pale than usual. He would've knocked you out if he wasn’t able to keep his cool, but he maintained composure. It was bad how he let you get to him so quickly and easily, but you had a way of worming under his skin. Now he had to tolerate you for as long as it took to get this whole ordeal done and over with. This is what he asked for, and now he got it.  
Sasuke forced himself to walk away and attend to other matters, so you were left with the crew at last. They were all business right now and it was a relief to see them all again but humans have a habit of changing as time progresses. That meant that they could possibly go against your plans when you revealed them. So it was going to suck like hell, but you had to take a bit to feel them out. You also had to start working with Kabuto as soon as possible to see exactly how bad you could screw this whole operation up. Upon asking some questions you discovered that Kabuto had been recently injured by one of the subjects which broke free from the containment chamber where chakra was constantly funneled into them. These people were becoming supercharged with energy and it was reducing their common sense to ash. They had no morality anymore; no human engineered inhibitions to stop them from screaming and charging in a fit of animal rage induced by constant intense discomfort. 

“Are you going to heal Kabuto, Saiya-sama?” Isirami asked. You shook your head. “I’m not the school nurse and I’m not kissing it better. He’s a medic himself. He’ll survive. That is what we are trained to do.” You moved to peer down through the large reinforced window into the strange containment room. Just by glancing around you had an idea of what was going on.  
“So this is just a guess.” You said to anyone listening. “But they must be taking the bijuu’s chakra and refining it into a mist that can be ventilated into this room through the air ducts at each end of the room, as well as the large one in the center of the ceiling.”

Lingering glances were exchanged before returning to rest on you. “Er yes. That’s right.” Timid Rasura confirmed. 

“I see. That’s not too bad.” You said while crossing your arms. “It would expose them to the chakra constantly. But if it were to be administered in doses it might cut down on incidents.”

“We have started doing that.” One said. You nodded, pleased at their initiative. “Good thinking.”

The rest of the time was spent with you supervising and trying to get a handle for this place. But your mind was elsewhere. You were already thinking of what to do with Sasuke and your little vial of sperm-death. The other thing is that you had to see the jinchuuriki he detained. Where were they and in what condition? For that matter would you be able to get near them?   
You did not know how long you were standing there. But it was long enough for Karin to come down stairs to check on progress. Apparently she had taken it upon herself to watch over things in Kabuto’s stead, being a medic herself. But your group had issues listening to her. You weren’t paying attention as they snapped back at Karin when she barked some orders, for the wheels were turning in your head as you stared down at the milling cluster of human batteries down in that room. Your eyes widened and your arms loosened from being folded. Realization dawned on you.

_’That’s it.’_

“HEY! YOU! GET TO WORK!” Karin’s nasty voice sawed into your thoughts. You twitched visibly and turned slowly to sear her with your stare. She was caught like a doe in bright lights, but recovered and pointed an accusatory finger in your face.

“Who d’ya think you are standing there!?” She snapped. “There's a lot to do! We didn't have you come here just to hang around looking stupid, y'know!!”

You turned around fully to stare at her with murder evident in currently diamond-hard eyes. 

“Huh?! Did you hear me!?” Karin went on. Right then you grabbed the wrist of that hand pointing an inch from your nose with one hand, also gripped just below her elbow…and twisted her wrist hard to the side, digging your fingers against the tendons beneath the heel of her palm. The CRACK! was easily audible. 

“AAH! OW!! Why the hell---...ughh, OW, that hurts...--WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!?"

Ignoring her babble, you weren’t satisfied with only this. Next you slid your hand from her wrist to mid-forearm, simultaneously slipping your other hand from her elbow to below her armpit, and flipped her over your head onto her back. She let out a scream that was knocked out of her mouth as soon as her back met the cold flooring. The wind was slammed out of her, and you knelt to grasp her shaggy red hair to lift her head up, resting that arm across a bent knee. You made eye contact. “The question is not ‘Who am I’, but rather, ‘Who are _you_ ’?” You whispered to her. All motion was ceased within the room. You paid this no mind. Karin sputtered and gasped, her eyes momentarily unfocused. Her free hand tried to grope for something in her pocket, but the pain blurred her concentration and ultimately Karin couldn't find what she sought, likely a weapon or pepper spray or whatever the hell she used to defend herself these days. You watched, and scoffed at her. “Whom are you, Karin, but one of Orochimaru’s little experimental toys?” You settled on both knees, and still holding her head up by her hair, used your free hand to unzip her collar and push the shoulder of her top down. There were the circular perforations marking her skin, you could see them despite how relatively miniscule they were. You snorted. “To think they’ve called you a medic all this time. No, no, you are _not_ a medic.” You paused, eyes narrowing emotionlessly. “ _You_ are a joke. A human with thousands of pinholes into her chakra reserve...a _'medic'_ that does not make.” You leaned your weight back against your heels and then stood, hauling the struggling woman with you by her hair. The new spike of pain from the roots of her hair spurred away the initial bleariness. “G-gah! Let me go right now!! AHH! OW!! Let GO of me you CRAZY BITCH!!!"

“If you don’t make me drag you, less of your precious hair shall be torn out. So get up already.” You taunted softly, heading to the door despite her weight dragging at your fingertips. She clumsily climbed to her feet and tried to grab your arm but you sensed it coming even with your back turned, and turned to grasp her upper arm and disentangled your hand from her hair to hold onto the juncture of neck and shoulder, so you could pivot and spin her around, her back now against your front. You moved that hand from her shoulder to more over her throat, and dug your newly painted nails into the flesh of her throat around the jugular. Immediately, she emitted a sound like choking.

“It’s not hard to rip a man or woman’s throat out with my bare hands, Karin.” You smiled. “I’ve done it before. Haven’t you?” You paused and affected a more curious expression. “I wonder how thick your blood is.” You seemed to ponder a moment then surprised the group by removing your hand from the front of her throat, choosing instead to rest your forearm over her shoulder and shifted weight upon it to push her down a little further; and knee her hard in the lower back. She let out a yowl and dropped to the ground, crippled and aching terribly. She tried to stand up and you stopped her with one boot atop the right side of her ribcage.   
“I hope you’ve learned your lesson, filth.” You kicked her hard in the side. There was a short, muffled sound denoting that a rib or two gave in. “Aagh!!”

Then you knelt down so she could hear you, grabbing a tuft of hair by her ear and using to awkwardly twist her head to the side, exposing an ear. “Or should I crack your dense skull so ‘the point’ can sink in?” You whispered.

“Gyaku Saiya.” A new, calmer voice stated. You gave an insolent look from under your eyelashes to the one at the top of the stairs. It was a man with pale hair tied in a low ponytail. He also wore round glasses. Immediately, you recognized this man: it must surely be Kabuto. “I think she gets it.”

“That has yet to be seen.” You let go of her and arose, turning your back on Karin and Kabuto. “But you’d do well to follow the same advice…Kabuto.”

He gave the trademark mocking, calculating smirk. “Oh, you hardly need concern yourself with _me_. Just don’t forget where you are.”

“In the room given to my people, whom I am once again in charge of.” You went to the window and looked down into the crowd again. Another wave of misty chakra was being passed in through the vents. “As you well know, I was sent here for a reason Kabuto.”

“I’m aware of that. After all,” He lifted a hand to adjust his glasses. “…It was _I_ who requested you.”

“This group is within my jurisdiction. I know the mission and I shall see it through until the end. So back the fuck off and take that useless cunt with you. If I require your presence, I'll send for you.”

"I somehow doubt that you know the full extent of things." Kabuto remarked, not one to be moved by words of that sort. But there was something about your attitude. And the fact that Karin was injured as she was had a bit to do with the need to back off. There was something not quite right about the situation. Karin isn’t a classically trained medic but she ought to be able to bind her own wounds. It seemed she couldn’t do that right now and as the seconds ticked by, Karin was looking paler and paler until she was whiter than bone. It was as though the very blood was leeched from her veins, so perhaps it was time to back off after all. Kabuto sighed, taking his fist from his hip and walked down the stairs. He leaned down and helped Karin up. But she wobbled and nearly fell flat; and he caught her before she dropped far enough to crack her forehead against the corner of a table. “We’ll go then.” Kabuto said quietly. “For now.” And he assisted Karin up the stairs and away. Once they were in a room where he would be able to examine Karin’s injuries, he let out a small sigh of relief.   
“I’m...g-glad to have her eyes off of me.” Karin voiced shakily to Kabuto, and watched him work in silence. His hands became consumed in the pale green of the Mystic Hand jutsu, and he placed a hand on her side first, using the chakra over his hand to see if any damage was done to her innards. His eyes widened.

“Your chakra…its…” Even _Kabuto_ was in shock, which is never a good thing. How had this happened? He was beside the stairs the entire time watching that little scene. You had not used any jutsu on her. Or at least, did not weave any handseals that he noticed. 

“I...I know. It hurts.” Karin whispered hoarsely, her body shuddering on and off. "It hurts bad. I've never experienced this k..k..kind of pain before in my _life_." Having been one of Orochimaru's playthings for awhile there, that is indeed saying something. 

Without warning the Mystic Hand jutsu guttered like a flame in the wind and began to blacken around the edges. Kabuto’s eyes widened once his own jutsu began to eat away at his very flesh, but he remained composed. He cut the flow of chakra to his hands and it was gone then, but his hands were bleeding and blisters were puffing up before his eyes. 

“Her ch-chakr-a is vile. I've never enc...countered...anything like it. I could feel its taint when she arrived, but I didn’t th…think…it’d be like… _this_.” Karin supplied weakly. “When sh-she kept getting so close and t-touching me her chakra was like poison to m-m-mine.” She pressed her thighs and knees together tightly, writhing a little in place on the table, and curled up into the fetal position with a cringe when a new wave of torment broke over her body. 

Kabuto decided to try again and began the Mystic Hand jutsu once more. The greenish chakra flames flickered then burst on him and he bit his tongue, hissing in pain through his teeth. He killed the energy again, catching sight of his own chakra turning to sinister black at the edges.

_’What the hell is this?’_ He wondered. _’I did not touch Saiya myself and yet I am effected simply by looking at Karin’s wounds. How peculiar....’_

A sickly gagging noise caught Kabuto’s attention and he saw Karin choking on her own blood, her arms gripping her knees tight against her chest. She coughed blood up, turning her head and slapping a sleeved forearm over the lower half of her face. She hacked wetly for a minute one and off and finally the wave of pain subsided. Her throat was sore and when she looked at her light purple shirt sleeve her cherry eyes widened. It was soaked through with red. Of course she tasted it in her mouth, but seeing it is very different. Kabuto watched Karin heave oxygen up and down her aching throat. She was trembling nonstop now. Kabuto frowned. “Perhaps this happened because you are hyper sensitive to chakra.”

“I don’t…know.” Karin laid her head back on the table and eyed the ceiling wearily. Whatever it was, it was sapping her stamina fast. She felt like a week’s worth of all-nighters in a span of minutes. Kabuto sighed and turned his head away, looking at the door. He had a sinking feeling about what exactly they were going to be dealing with from now on. And yet, his oh-so-deadly curiosity was piqued.

 

_With You…_

 

“Saiya-sama, you’ve changed since we last saw you.” Daisato’s bold voice ventured. He was off to the right, rifling through some documents. 

You nodded your head once and sighed, allowing your guts to unwind a little bit from that encounter. Just enough not to feel so inwardly knotted up. You chuckled a bit, smiling. “I guess I overdid it eh?”

“Not quite.” Daisato replied, carelessly flicking sleek white hair out of one sharp red eye. His other eye was white. A Byakugan actually. It had been a gift to him; you had implanted that eye in him as a reward for an exceptionally hard mission. An assassination where he had to kill a Hyuuga and bring back one of the man’s completely intact eyes as proof.   
“After all,” Daisato continued in his naturally (thus, unintentionally) alluring voice. A deep, yet soft voice…like death almost. He was one of those ninja whom had women fawning all over him from a young age. “…She would not back down. She had to be put in her place. And to be truthful she had it coming.”

“Yeah she’s been all up in it since this whole thing started.” An irate Uryu butted in. “Damned bitch doesn’t know what’s good for her! Tch, if you didn’t do it I had a bet saying that Daisato would.”

“Hn, of course you would say that.” Daisato murmured thoughtfully. “As it has been done already.”  
You went and closed the door at the bottom of the stairs and turned to them. “I had been waiting to see if anything has changed amongst all of you,” You said, ignoring their conversation while the girls (Isirami, Kuri, Rasura and Akane) rolled their eyes and exchanged the universal ‘Tch, _men_ ’ look. 

“But even in this short time I can tell that no one has changed.” You tilted your head. “I hope I’m right by so quickly jumping ahead. But we can ill afford to waste a moment.” They all agreed, and you nodded in turn. "Say, this room isn't bugged, is it?"

"No. We check every day." Hikaru responded with absolute certainty. Your relief was nearly tangible. It would be safe to talk here then, providing there weren't any raised voices. “Perfect. Please make sure that no one knows about this. We must go on as though we intend to keep working with Sasuke for his benefit, owing to lack of options on our part. However this mission is a cover for my real one. I am to sabotage this operation.” 

“What?!”  
“But—“  
“This is a rare opportunity to—“

“No.” You cut them off before the rest could interject. “There’s one more thing I will attempt in regards to the art of reanimation.” You turned from the window and looked around at them all. “And I will try it once the opportunity comes to bring all those people back to life.”

“But Saiya-sama it’s impossible, we just haven’t told Sasuke because we didn’t think he’d listen.” Akane objected, looking mildly distressed. 

“Yeah, it won’t be easy, what I have in mind. Especially since I’m the only one who can do it. Alone.”

“But--!”  
“Enough!” Daisato bit out. “Saiya-sama would not try anything without good reason! Stop doubting her!”

You forgot about how loyal they all were. They’re great people who got here because they’re good at what they did, and were quick and willing learners….and damned persistent. You had not wanted the trouble of a following at first. But they were like a bad itch; kept coming back, kept making themselves known. Especially Mai. Why was it that people latched on to you? There was always some person haunting your wake, peering from around the corner, spying. People were inexplicably drawn to you, as humans are drawn to death in ways that both thrill and strike them with utmost fear. Death shapes all things. It is the end-all that drives us to do something fulfilling before we die. It is the root of drama, because without death, without all those things that stem from the shadow of passing, there is no fear that love will be lost, there is no remarkable passage of time. 

If the shadow of the reaper did not loom like a mountain over countless pathetic lives, what would they all do with themselves but fester?

Yes. Death.  
You have killed a lot of people, it gave you power. You were one of those who chose to use that power is all. That strength does not exist for those incapable of picking up a knife and thrusting it through a warm heart. 

“I need everybody’s cooperation on this.” You said next. “After that you can take enough of the budget to build up a new headquarters. Beyond that I won’t say more until I fully understand all that is going on. Are there any questions?”

“Yeah, I have one.” Raiden, the quietest of them all, piped up. “Why exactly are you doing this?”

“I had wanted to liberate you all from this place.” You answered, and lingered before deciding to add, “But otherwise…I’ve got a promise to honor.” Then, with a smirk, “And a grudge towards Uchiha Sasuke.”


	34. Denied

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke's family reunion is anything but what he had planned, as Team Hebi plays directly into a trap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rhig: There's a few blatant references in this chapter too. I won't spoil them. xD Here ya go! I'll post another one shortly, perhaps today if I have the chance. And thanks for the reads, comments, kudos and such! <3

Denied 

 

One week. One bloody fucking week of Uchiha Sasuke and his insufferably useless comrades...who at every turn insinuated themselves into your business. The least bothersome of these was Suigetsu actually, who was rather content to give you and your team a wide berth. Jugo was of a similar mind, though his wise unwillingness to trust you often led him to check in on his friends to be certain they weren't choking on their own spit after mealtimes. Apart from that, the one day where you chased Karin around as a ghost while windmilling your katana around like a madwoman was sufficient reason for both Sui and Jugo to stay out of it.

“I don’t get it Sasuke.” Suigetsu said, watching Karin leap out of harms way when, with a ‘SHANK!’, you had unsheathed both katana and wakizashi and tried to scissor her in half. Instead you sheared the lower half of her shirt and grazed her belly with the tip of your katana, drawing a razor thin line of red across her pale midriff. She was flailing away down the hall now, spouting nonsense in a high pitched voice, with you in hot pursuit.

“You’d think she would’ve noticed.” Sasuke remarked dryly as the _real_ you ambled around the corner behind him. You smiled contentedly, perhaps a touch evilly. “I love shadow clones. They do things for me, as it were.” And then you turned to address Sasuke. “Kabuto hasn’t been around to show me where the jinchuriki are kept.”

Bearing in mind that you _are_ an Akatsuki, he was instantly suspicious. “Why do you need to see them?”

“What do you think?” You sneered. “I ought to make certain they’re in decent health, don’t you suppose? After all, enough chakra is being sucked out of them to fill an entire room. Doing so for very long will end them.”

“Hn; rest assured that Kabuto has seen to them already. Focus on _your_ task, not his.”

Ugh. Denied. You shrugged indifferently as if it were nothing, and went downstairs. Sasuke’s eyes followed you, intricately scanning from head to heel. Your hips weren’t as wide as some women’s. But nevertheless he saw that your shape could carry a child nicely. Though your prickly demeanor tempted him to formulate crude images in his mind, and for a moment Sasuke entertained the hilarious concept of breaking your limbs so all that was useful was your trunk; and then locking you in an airless cage with one of Orochimaru’s more disturbed failed experiment specimens that’s been sex deprived for years. Certainly you are a beautiful woman, he agreed with that much, but having you stay under the same roof helped him determine that you aren’t his type. Neither is Karin for that matter, greatly to her dismay. He’d made it abundantly clear to her, and yet his warnings to politely fuck off went unheeded and she continually made cloying sexual advances whenever she thought he’d be receptive. Often this was accompanied by Jugo and/or Suigetsu rounding the corner at the worst possible moment. Karin would turn beet red and bolt after them angrily for ‘killing the mood’. It reminded him of Sakura and Ino, or perhaps Sakura and Naruto, when they grew up together. Always chasing each other and screaming, typically ending when the girls clonked one another or Naruto on the head for being an imbecile. These were fond memories, but there was no way in hell that things could return to the way they'd been. Occasionally he wished they could. Spending a couple years in Orochimaru's company led him to wistful memories of home, but then those thoughts looped around, inevitably, to the fact that Itachi _destroyed_ 'home', and left him to pick of the pieces. He yearned for vengeance more than anything. But if things went differently, he couldn't help but wonder if he'd end up with Naruto or Sakura one day. Both of them were an irritant while growing up, but now...he could see it. Especially after sleeping with Naruto once or twice recently, before the trance over his mind was broken and he ran back into the arms of their childhood friends. Sasuke didn't show it, but he was a little hurt that it worked out like this, that in the end there was no other option. Yet Sasuke discovered he was a bit pleased that Naruto found his way back to the others. This is how it had to be. Both men knew they were destined to meet again as enemies in the future. Once the dust settled and all debts were paid (if anything was left), they could consider relationships.

Overall, this was a very painful arrangement for everyone to endure. And Sasuke was repeatedly questioning the wisdom of going through with this upon Kabuto’s request, but he saw no other alternatives towards obtaining what he required. So he would need to be extremely careful with all these opposing personalities clustered under one roof. It was like setting a lit oil lamp atop a powder keg and hoping the whole damn thing doesn’t erupt.

To Sasuke's credit; his caution had _more_ than paid for itself after one meager week of this tenuous alliance. Far as he could see, there were no actual incidents worth mentioning and it seemed that progress was being made. But once this was all said and done, there was no way that he could let you go back. He had further plans, and if they couldn't be carried out, then he'd get use out of your flesh one way or another. Especially after he saw you with his brother one day. Kisame was also there, but ever since then Sasuke couldn't shake the feeling that something _miiiight_ be going on between you and Itachi. For that suspicion alone he couldn't let you go. Sasuke would stop at nothing to ruin Itachi, and if that meant yanking on the tiniest thread, so be it...if you meant something to Itachi, it'd be worth the hassle. And if you _didn't_ mean anything to him, it still worked out to Sasuke's benefit…loose ends, and all that. Plus if he couldn't completely have his way; Kabuto already indicated in no uncertain terms that he had designs of his own which you'd be useful for. That was part of their arrangement in this joint endeavor.

Little did he know that you were going to screw him before he screwed you. So to speak. 

It was taking forever, and you continually bade your time. Eventually Kabuto would return from his routine errands and arrived to check up as usual. You noticed that he went out pretty often, basically every other day. And you needed to confirm a handful of suspicions. Not least of all was the matter of those human batteries; that mist-form chakra from the jinchuriki didn’t feel quite as robust as a Tailed Beast’s energy. In the corner of the room where the others were working, you broke the seal on a new scroll and unrolled it. This was from an informant.  
Your eyes widened at what was hastily scrawled upon it. If this was true then your mission was about to become a good bit easier. You stowed the scroll away and rose from your seat. The room was relatively quiet; they were all very concentrated on their tasks but took as long as possible to complete anything. Without a word you formed a shadow clone here and then turned into a ghost yourself. Upon thinning the visibility of your ethereal form down to nothing, you went off to stalk Kabuto with your chakra signature thoroughly suppressed. You were going to do this until you got some answers, and Kabuto would unwittingly provide them.

It took way too long. But his last stop was a room you’d never seen before. You caught a glimpse of...how many? Seven? What was this?! Allegedly, Sasuke detained a few jinchuriki, but _how_ was a mystery when Akatsuki owns most of them. One which continually eluded capture was called ‘Killer Bee’, a flamboyant ninja dressed predominantly in white. There was nobody fitting that description in here that you could see. Something was _very_ off. 

To that end you returned when the rest of the place was sleeping…ghosts are great for sneaking about, of course . You could go where you pleased and never get caught if you were cautious. And the ‘jinchuriki’ wouldn’t notice you since they were drugged unconscious. Upon looking around at them it turned out that these people were remnants of the past; as most appeared to be middle aged ninja…and ninja ordinarily don’t live that long unless they’re exceptional. No, these people were at some point touched with the chakra of a Tailed Demon, likely during the great wars, purposefully or otherwise. That chakra is infectious. It becomes a seed that grows and grows and seeks an outlet. They were all wired into one machine in the center of the room, which had five pipelines extending from it into the walls, and one large ventilation shaft from the middle. Being currently in operation, it hummed insistently and you saw the bright substance that is chakra being pulled from the subjects through thin rubber tubes. That, or it was some medication going into them. It was hard to tell without getting too close and you had no intention of getting up into it right now, the machine could have an alarm or some kind of tamper-proof sensor. There was no need to wake up the whole facility. But the facts remained: your informant was correct. Sasuke was stringing you along; perhaps even Madara was deceived, however temporarily, but for the time being there was no way to determine who knew what exactly. Bottom line is that these people aren’t real jinchuriki. While Killer Bee had been fought and weakened tremendously he was _not_ taken; his brother the Raikage had shown up at the last second to save Bee. Thinking on all of this, you scowled. Sasuke must have known you would put your feelers out. That’s why you were fed false information. Being an Akatsuki; a pressing part of your mission is to discover and capture jinchuriki. So letting outsiders think that he has one or two of them would be an excellent lure; or if that didn’t work, it would pull in another member of Akatsuki, and then it would've been a matter of disabling that person and sending word to Madara that he was willing to make a trade. It all looked simple enough on paper, but executing that plan is another matter.

 _’He’s not as stupid as I believed.’_ You thought bitterly. _’Hah, that bastard! What a mockery! No wonder why he wouldn’t let me see them earlier!’_ You clenched invisible fists and flew away through the walls at top speed. _’He’s going to_ pay _for this.’_

You were sick with fury. This whole situation was practically for nothing; Madara might have ordered this mission to curry favor with his young relative, but there was also an ulterior motive for Akatsuki to steal the jinchuuriki from Team Hebi. Far as you were concerned, you would have nothing to do with mending fences for Madara. And now a neat half of the mission was scotched. You were to sabotage this operation as discussed, but somebody, perhaps _several_ somebodies, were going to pay dearly for Sasuke’s conceit. 

You arrived at your quarters and solidified, throwing a viciously dark glare around, as if to make certain you were alone…though if the walls could blister from looks alone, they surely would have. There weren’t exactly a lot of spaces to hide: this plain room had a worn flat-top desk and matching rust-hued wooden chair across from a twin sized bed, which sported a pair of thin blankets that were thrice too large. They were draped lopsidedly against the cracked footboard; forming a slate blue pool on the floor. The room was exactly as you left it at least. Since the blankets weren’t pulled all the way up as you’d taken to leaving them, it was obvious no one was hiding under the bed either. Maybe you were being twitchy again, though your paranoia wasn’t totally out of place in a den of strangers, and you knew that you had been watched on many occasions. But upon finding yourself utterly alone you went to the bed, sat upon the edge, and rummaged in your pack only to extract from its depths the syringe you had prepared back at Akatsuki HQ. You stared at it for a long while, and considered the situation.

When you decided that you knew what to do, you pulled your pack onto your lap and began going through it again. _’Yes…this’ll do.’_ You took both handfuls of vials to the desk and lit the lone candle sitting there, then pulled the chair out and sat down, setting to work right away. It was awkwardly inefficient though. A mere candle wouldn't suffice to melt down solids, so you had to resort to using the Fire Aspect, and created a small fireball in the palm of your hand. It floated up and above the desk on its own, and you used it to continue your work. It both lit the immediate area better than that shitty little candle and it let you break down materials into liquid form within the vials. One slip up and you’d give the desk some nasty acid burns. You had to temper it just right to make it potent enough. 

You were up until the young hours of the morning, which is when you got around to finishing up and loading this new concoction into syringes. You made enough to go around for those false jinchuuriki, Kabuto, Jugo, Karin, Suigetsu and Sasuke if it came to that. With any luck it wouldn’t, considering that Itachi wants him alive for now. That aside, the next day showed up all too fast after you went to that uncomfortable bed. A spring dug against the small of your back and you tossed and turned a lot, and being so wakeful in the dead of night you became more paranoid than usual. You had friends close by, but were otherwise surrounded by enemies. This is not home. Even headquarters hardly felt like 'home' anymore, since the air became thick with conspiracy. Besides, you got used to sleeping next to Itachi in an expensive hotel room for quite awhile. Upon returning to HQ your sleeping quarters were separate again; and you both could only steal moments together in passing, which made it seem forbidden and childish.

When you awoke from barely restful sleep the next morning, you cleaned up and started looking for Sasuke. You found him ambling down a hall towards the downstairs, and blinked. “Oh, here you are.”

“Hm?”

“All we have to do is prepare the scrolls we need, and then we’ll be ready to leave for Konoha.” You said while going down the stairs. “Actually as it turns out, whatever Kabuto was planning with these humans in that room there has nothing to do with bringing back your clansmen.”

This was news to Sasuke apparently. A slight frown creased his forehead and then he followed you downstairs. He’d been good about leaving this room alone. Karin and Kabuto were too after you kicked that moronic redhead’s ass into next Saturday. Though admittedly Kabuto was the most welcome visitor out of the bunch, given his vast knowledge of the medical field. At least he could offer a properly informed opinion where required.  
When you got downstairs everyone was working on their own individual scroll, and you took one up yourself. It was blank for now of course, you checked before rerolling it and turning to Sasuke. “When were you thinking?”

“As soon as you’re ready.” He responded. “We will leave then.”

“Where exactly in Konoha is this?” You asked.

“At the edge of the city itself, where we used to live in a compound.” He said. You nodded once.  
“I should’ve expected as much. The Gyaku Clan was in a similar setup.”  
Sasuke’s eyes almost darkened, as if your shadow took on the form of his brother. “And you killed them didn’t you?”

You snorted and went to the window to watch through it into the mass of men and women below. “I killed hundreds more than them that day.” Your voice was toneless. Their deaths meant nothing, and you wanted him to realize that. He would never find the reflection if remorse in _this_ killer.

“Hm, you’re no better than my brother.” He turned to go upstairs. The idea that he relied on your abilities for this project and you massacred your own family, possibly friends and comrades….it was sickening. Yet he had no choice but to suffer it.

“How true. I’m worse.” You smirked, hands clasped behind your back. “Rather than do it out of want to ‘measure my vessel’, _I_ did it out of hatred.” You left out the part about the straw which broke the camel’s back; that your clan wanted to marry you off to a guy about thrice your age in order to forge an alliance so Kusagakure could obtain the antidote to their misery, an antidote which a fringe town’s best doctor managed to concoct after an intense several months of trial and error. Then; not only had you been the sickness, but you ended any chances that they’d get what was needed to cure it and murdered innocent people in cold blood. Not just with your bare hands, but by poisoning various foodstuffs at your part time job. While you originally took that job because it was your parents requirement for them to keep paying for ninja academy tuition, you realized it also served as a nice excuse to blow off your team mates, and it also was a good way to test things out. The food at that restaurant was known to be delicious enough to keep customers coming back for more.

Sasuke was gone from sight and you sensed he was off in another part of the building just as fast as he could get there, so you took the blank scroll and frowned at it. “Waste of scrolls if you ask me.” You said to the others.

“Yeah. It is.” Raiden assented.  
“But something is required to trick them.” Kai said. “So this will do.”

“That’s all well and good, but here.” You placed a handful of full syringes down. “I found out that the jinchuriki they have aren’t that at all. They’re people who have once grazed a Tailed Demon’s power and became tainted by it.” You sighed, running your fingers through your hair. “I’ve been had.”

“It’s okay! We’ll get them good Saiya-sama!” Kuri chirped. You shrugged. “Makes no difference to me. And I hope you are all turning those into something useful for yourselves. There’s going to be a fight on our hands.” You gestured to the scrolls they were working on with a sweep of the hand, then sat back in a chair and nudged the blank one away with the back of your knuckles. “I need Sasuke to stay in my sight at all times. When it happens it’ll happen fast so keep your wits about you everyone. And when we leave I need a volunteer to get back here during the confusion to inject the fake jinchuriki with these,” You held up a syringe. “And also pump a poison fog in through the ventilation shaft to that room there. Since Kabuto apparently lied to Sasuke about the use of those people, he’s obviously got something in the works that might prove disastrous if we let it carry on unhindered.”

“What do you think it could be?” Hikaru asked.

“I’m not sure. I want to say something to do with Orochimaru. But I killed him good.” 

“He’s always been a slippery fellow.” Daisato said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s around in some form.”

“Great.” You muttered. “Exactly what I need. _More_ potential crap to deal with.”

“This might not be quite as bad as you think. Chances are good that Kabuto won’t manage.” 

With a sigh, you flicked back some dark strays and smoothed your fingers through your hair. “We don’t know that, Dai. Kabuto is the kind of medic that brings glory to mad scientists. The odds are better than you think that he’s going to do something that we’ll all wish he hadn’t sooner or later. It’s just a matter of him recovering from the loss here…once it happens, that is." 

“So what will you do? Go back to Akatsuki after all this is said and done?” Rasura inquired, her face wrought with curiosity. You tilted your head. “What kind of question is that? Of course I’ll go back to them; I've got ties there. I’ll go back for them. But I’ve also got some business to take care of involving Madara.” You smiled. “But see, I want to bring back a present. Not only will we have sabotaged this place here, but I’m going to make a side trip to the Villlage Hidden in the Clouds.” 

“Er wha?! Why?!” Kuri squealed. “That’s terribly far out of the way…”  
“There’s a jinchuriki there, moron.” Daisato grunted.

“Exactly.” You confirmed. “I want that jinchuriki, ‘Killer Bee’ I think it is. The Eight Tailed Bull-Octopus-thing. I don’t know if you all have been keeping your eyes and ears open but I have, here as well as in other countries. My informant in the Cloud has sent word that he saw Sasuke, Suigetsu and Karin engage Killer Bee in an almost cataclysmic battle. They never managed to detain him, but he was left in a highly weakened state.”

“Informant, from the Cloud…” Uryu though aloud. “Hmm…who is it, I know her name…”  
“It’s a shinobi referred to as ‘The Iron Maiden’.” Isirami answered gravely. To Uryu's befuddled expression, she hastily elaborated. “All those who know the meaning of that name are dead since the last great war.”

“Yes. But that can’t possibly be her real name!” Uryu protested.  
“Of course not.” You said, smiling almost maliciously. “Her name is Uchiha Megami, and she is the one who taught me genjutsu. Admittedly though, she could've tried a little harder. Meg's a dreadful teacher."

They were all struck quiet. An Uchiha who survived? How is that possible?  
“We’re not quite done here Saiya-sama. But before we continue on, might I wonder why we need these vials for the jinchuriki? Why not slit their throats where they lay, isn't that easier?" Akane ventured, to which you inclined both eyebrows. "The contents of those needles will ensure that the power inside these false jinchuriki is dispersed safely. Merely 'killing' them would only do the job halfway, and I can ill afford that. A Bijuu's chakra is _so_ contagious that if seeded correctly into a host body, it will grow and infect them like a parasite. This little cocktail I whipped up for them to...'enjoy'...will break down their chakra veins and the energy therein, and safely disintegrate the remainder."

It was reasonable, some caution would spread a long way here. If the plan is to sabotage the operation then this was certainly one method to go about it, and it could be beneficial for more than one party in the long run. People like those false jinchuriki still carry a lot of power in them, but they're incredibly unstable even on a good day and often turn into pathologically insane loose cannons, so letting them float around is a very bad idea. The dark chakra festering within them can spread like the plague under the right conditions, not unlike the environment that Kabuto developed here. Whatever he was up to, he duped Sasuke into thinking what he wanted in order to get a hold on the resources and the manpower he needed to continue his experiment. And whatever that may be, it required an _enormous_ quantity of energy that Kabuto clearly didn't have readily available on his own. And it would be very much possible that the ninja nations who now lack a Tailed Demon of their own would be willing to buy up a human chakra weapon not completely unlike a bijuu, if worse came to worst and they needed the heavy artillery.  
That aside, you could tell that the others were wondering how you met The Iron Maiden. "You all want to know, don't you? You want to know how I met Megami."

A few of them nodded, and you glanced at the clock. There was a little while to chew the fat. Might as well regale them with the story. “See, Megami survived the last great war because she was so badly injured she had to be taken away. But the medic foreword camp she was resting at was discovered and attacked by the Hidden Cloud, and they kidnapped any enemy shinobi they could get their paws on. Except when they found out she was an Uchiha they didn’t bother telling Konoha about her, and to this day I’m told her name is carved in a memorial stone somewhere in the Hidden Leaf, amongst the other K.I.A’s. “

“K.I.A?”

“Killed In Action.” You translated, rather tersely.

“Why’d they not tell the Leaf about her, Saiya-sama?” Kuri questioned, pulling her skinny legs up onto the seat of her chair so she could hug her knees.  
“I doubt any of you know much about this, and I didn’t either until Megs told me, but the Raikage wanted a new set of eyes. Never elaborated as to why, but that’s besides the point. The Raikage originally wanted the Byakugan for himself and ventured several attempts to capture a Hyuuga in order to have a surgery and take those Byakugan.” You motioned with your head towards Daisato who frowned and closed his eyes, swiveling in his chair to face away from the conversation.  
“It’s an extremely risky procedure.” You went on. “And they didn’t manage with a Hyuuga. So…thinking ahead, some suck-up shinobi during and after that war kept Uchiha Megami as prisoner. Think about it! They could offer to their Raikage a pair of perfectly intact Sharingan. What better way to get on a man’s good side but to provide such an answer to his dilemma?”

“Of course.” Daisato grated out annoyedly.  
“So Megami never left the Hidden Cloud.” You said. “The particular ninja who kept her locked away in his basement was eventually framed for treason, and when the authorities arrived to search his house for evidence he fought them, apparently because he thought that he was going to be in a lot of trouble for harboring an enemy in his home. By then, Megami was still in rough shape and had a few improperly healed fractures, some highly infected wounds, and was running a bad fever, and likely wouldn't survive the journey back to the Hidden Leaf in such a troubled state. Besides, they were already on very thin ice with the Leaf. So they took her to their hospital in the Cloud, and nursed her back to health. Once Megami finished healing, she admitted that she was so dissatisfied with Konoha anyway that she’d rather stay, if they'd let her.” You shifted around a bit in place, watching them work. “I’ve heard recently from Uchiha Itachi himself that their clan and Konoha itself were caught into a conflict of interests that often enough became messy.” You crossed one leg over the other and twitched your ankle impatiently. “I happened to meet Megami when I was on a mission for ANBU Black Ops. She separated each one of us and killed the others, then went after me. But at the time it was a draw. We’d fight for almost an hour before she realized I wasn’t about to give in, and called a truce since we weren’t getting anywhere…but all that I needed was for her to let her guard down once, and I’d have her. She stole a forbidden scroll out from under Kusagakure’s ninja council.” You stopped fidgeting. “As such she cut a deal and said she’d teach me in my weakest area at the time; genjutsu, if I aborted the mission and went home afterwards.”

“But why’s she helping you now?” Uryu asked, confused. “It doesn't sound like anything which fosters a hell of a lot of gratitude, that's for damn sure. That was years ago right?”

“That it was. However Megami didn’t have loyalties to anyone, especially Konoha and the Hidden Cloud. She is sort of a undeclared rogue kunoichi and lurks around the Cloud, pretending to remain a friend of theirs. The only reason why she agreed to help me is because I’ve actually encountered this ‘Killer Bee’ person once. He’s an irritant to say the least, so I told her that one day I might just have to kill him…you know, for fun.” You gave a shrug. “I never imagined that Akatsuki would claim me. All this does is give more of a purpose to hunt the guy down.”

“So what’s that got to do with her helping you because of Killer Bee?”

“Oh yeah, that.” You began, almost hesitantly. “…Killer Bee is a key part of the Hidden Cloud’s defense. He is revered by them in a strange way that most jinchuriki aren’t. To do away with Killer Bee? That would prove to be a heavy blow to the country. Don’t forget what jinchuriki were used for; to seal up the Tailed Ones. Those demons are chakra weapons. If another great war is ignited, then the Cloud will be up shit creek. While most nations only had one jinchuriki apiece, the Cloud actually had a _couple_ of them. The Two Tails and Eight Tails.”

“That’s becoming a moot point.” Daisato said. “Akatsuki is kidnapping all the jinchuriki after all. Say...you must know something about it, Saiya-sama.”

“I will not discuss Akatsuki’s business. It’s none of your concern.” You answered blandly, with an expression that suggested you had a bad taste in your mouth. “No, don’t look at me like that, I’m _not_ changing my mind. Story time is over. Pack those things up already so we can get going.”

“They’re drying.” Raiden defended mildly.  
“Fine then. Who’s coming back here to do as I asked?”

“Why don’t we all come back to pick up our things?”  
You sighed irritably and rubbed your forehead, smoothing a hand back over your hair. “Please try to comprehend this. When I go through with what I’m planning, trust me, I won’t be welcomed back here. And neither will any of you. So hang back and pack up…I hope you've got some storage scrolls on hand…and instead of following me _into_ Konoha, I want everyone to make _as though_ you are following but cut and run at the last minute. I need Sasuke to think that everything is going according to his plans. And make certain that none of you are discovered. We can afford to build up one more base of operations but certainly can’t let anyone find out where the new one will be. I trust your judgment.”

“So to recap we will stay back long enough to gather our things, stick those fake jinchuriki with these syringes, empty a poison fog into the air vent to the room full of human batteries, and then leave, trick Sasuke into thinking we’re doing our job, and book out of there the second we see the border. Correct?” Hikaru said, arms crossed, eyebrows raised. 

“Correct.”

“That’s one tall order.” Hika grumbled.  
“Can I get fries with that?” Uryu joked and you shot him a look. “Be that as it may, it must be done.”

“Of course Saiya-sama. We will do our best.”

“That’s all that I ask.” You answered and rose from your seat. “I’ll go find Sasuke now that we're ready. I’m going to tell them that you’re all lagging back so you don’t interfere with the fight.” You nodded to them, almost respectfully, and started up the stairs. “Thanks everybody. Things will smooth out sooner rather than later, hopefully.”

Sasuke proved to be easy to find yet again. Easier than usual since he went right up behind you and placed a hand on your lower back, moving you aside and against his chest to prevent you from getting stampeded by a speeding Suigetsu chased by a jabbering, angered Karin.  
But the part where Sasuke had your body against his, your head fitting easily under his chin: _this_ situation was what caught you wide eyed and a bit off guard. And he had yet to let go. The only thing stopping you from acting out was the kunai currently pressed to your lower back, left of the spine.  
“I’m warning you Hebi-teme, you’ll be looking up at me from the flat of your back if—“

“The same goes for you.” He interrupted in a low voice. You gripped his loose white shirt and shoved him back, despite the kunai pressed next to a potentially deadly spot. “Don’t _fucking_ touch me again, jackass.”  
To this he smirked confidently, knowing he nailed a nerve. And that was satisfaction enough for now. “We have a lot to do, you and I.”

“Like resurrect a full clan from the dirt where they belong?” You snapped, glaring at him. His shirt was open at the chest, and hung a little wider than usual from when you held handfuls of it. He put away the kunai and straightened out his top. Watching this, a sneer soured your mouth. “And so do you. Face down, in the mud. That’s how people like you wind up in the end.”

He had been slightly playful until that jab, perhaps because he thought he had the upper hand and had caught you totally by surprise. Naturally, he'd bask in the moment. But now Sasuke was all business, though you wondered why he didn't at least slap you for that last venomous barb. “Are you prepared?”

“Yes.” You took another step away from him. “My team is going to hang back and give us a head start. For the most part they are only healers. They won't be much use in a skirmish.”

“As long as they do their part, I couldn’t care less.”

“That’s what I figured. Don’t worry. The four of us will be more than enough to take whatever they throw at us.” Then you appeared rather smug when Karin and Suigetsu came back to hear the plan. Karin was a bit disoriented looking because Suigetsu gave her a hard knock on the skull for chasing him around like crazy bitch out of hell, though Karin also looked a bit steamed when you purposefully excluded her. “We should only need one medic. Suigetsu, Jugo, Sasuke and I will have to do most of the killing." You finally looked at the redhead pointedly, then turned to address Sasuke, Suigetsu and Jugo. "Which is fine. A large sacrifice is required for this jutsu anyhow.” 

“Sacrifice?” Karin was puzzled and alarmed. Suigetsu blinked and took a heavy drag from his water bottle, opting to say nothing. 

“I didn’t stutter.”

“We didn’t intend to kill any of them.” Sasuke ground out at you with a deadpan stare. You heaved the fiftieth sigh today and looked away. “Idiots, each of you.”

“Is there no way to do this without sacrifices?”

“Well…yes, but it’ll take too long. During which I won’t be able to move whatsoever.” Your brow furrowed in thought. “There is something you should know about it. If I do this without any killing involved there is a chance that your clansmen won’t arise properly."

“What exactly do you mean by that?”

“About a 50% chance that they’ll come out mindless shells driven by pure instinct." Noting that Suigetsu and Jugo were both quite slow on the uptake, you quickly elaborated with a roll of the eyes. "Y'know, zombies. Mindless brain-eating ghouls." You wiggled your fingers at them, then absentmindedly tightened your gloves back. "The point of a sacrifice is to satisfy equivalent exchange. I can transfer life energy from the living to the dead in order to repair a body sufficiently for the soul's reentry, and when done properly, this creates the correct environment for an individual to revive in full control of their faculties. Then it's a matter of enticing these souls out of oblivion, and it's very likely that most of them will be close by anyhow, seeing as how they were slain so abruptly and were unable to resolve many things before their deaths. I find that this usually results in spirits chained to this Earth, which is good news for us, if so." Perfect. Sasuke didn’t look as if he was going to budge on this whole sacrifice thing. Biting your lower lip in thought, you shook your head, and wondered if they intended to make a habit of being manipulated by others more intelligent than themselves. "I suppose it can't be helped. I'll need a bit longer now, to put together an antidote." You turned on your heel and began to head back down the hallway.

“What for?” Suigetsu called after you.

You stopped in your tracks, staring ahead. It was hard not to grin. “Back when I severed my ties with Kusagakure, I used a specific poison that turned people into something like living zombies, as they say in the movies. But the poison had multiplied into every body fluid. A bite, or anything that transfers infected matter into another body, was all that's needed to spread the contagion.” You turned to peer over your shoulder at them with one purple eye. “This changes absolutely everything. The preparations we spent so much time on, making scrolls and such...it means nothing now, because I never anticipated that you guys would have qualms with murder. These people have been dead for _years_ , and now you're asking me to bring them back in a way I didn't properly plan for. Logically, there could be another outcome none of us have prepared for. I don't wish to be caught without some type of broad-spectrum antidote should anybody get bitten. There's no sense in risking it, so hopefully an additional precaution would serve us well."

“How do we know you aren't looking for an excuse to off us, huh? You're well known for your poisons. So how do we know is isn't another one?” Suigetsu pointed out before anyone else could. His pearly frights were visible. Their triangular outlines glinted menacingly in the low light, as if to warn. You watched him for a moment, wondering about that yourself just a little bit. Exactly how much did they know? Did Madara send some information ahead? Maybe it was time to do a little fishing. Just enough to know for sure. 

“You don't.” You answered bluntly. "But here's some food for thought: there's two people in this facility currently who can revive the dead. Myself, and Kabuto. Yet, why is it you called upon _me_ , when he's been here longer?" Before Karin could blurt anything smart out, you held up a hand to cut her off and continued. "It's because Kabuto's method results in absolute subjugation. Whereas with the number of ways I do it, in each case the individual maintains their free will. You obviously don't trust Kabuto as far as you can throw him, and the same follows for me, but you feel that I'm the safer option. Bringing back these people is totally asinine because they're so far gone, and its possible they won't survive long once brought back into the world. Additionally, why such a huge group of clansmen?" You raised an eyebrow, noting that Sasuke looked a touch grim. He didn't like where this is going, that you reasoned out so much despite his efforts at concealing the truth. "I would surmise that there's something you need from them, and you aren't sure _who_ until you can question them. But if Kabuto did it; he could use his mind control over these revived clansmen to withhold any and all information you seek; and then leverage you to the hilt because you have _nothing_ on him to counter it with." You tilted your head, watching them calmly. "In the end, with my way of doing this, I'll be in as much danger as anybody else. If not more so, because I cannot move or the ritual will break. And in case you think it's a toxin I could already be immune to, there's no sense in it at this stage...I could've done that countless times by now, and there's no way I'll already be immune to any pathogen these potential zombies may carry. So riddle me this: if I'm stuck in a spot where I can't move, why would I poison my protectors?" Hopefully, they'll believe even 75% of all that. It isn't that you can't move during the ritual, it’s that you're lying to lull them into a false sense of security. And _your_ version of success is _their_ failure. So now that they were rendered silent and thoughtful, you went about your business of going to take care of that 'antidote' problem. Then it was time to leave.

Konoha city was far enough away as the crow flies, but arriving there quickly was manageable. But after powering through the rest of the day, night and early morning, you arrived and Sasuke led the way through to where his clansmen were buried. Sure enough the guards would notice. There is no point in this being a covert operation. It would cause such a ruckus anyway that the elements of stealth and surprise would offer little to no benefit. Shinobi were chasing after the group and you were flustered with attempting not to actually kill these pursuers. It was so hard not to overdo it!

“Saiya, do it!” Sasuke bellowed, punching a man in the gut hard enough to wind him, then moved over to a kunoichi preparing to fling two handfuls of shuriken at you while he'd been momentarily distracted. “Remember, I can’t move during this or the jutsu will break before it’s complete!” You shouted over the commotion. Prior to starting, you darted around to each of the other three and handed them their respective ‘antidotes’. But before you got to toss Sasuke’s to him, a whole new group of shinobi came rushing into the graveyard like a blue and green flood, their headbands glinting in the moonlight. You stood in the middle of the graveyard and began making handseals. 

_’What is she doing yelling that so everyone can hear!?’_ Karin fumed inwardly. _’Is she stupid or something?!?!’_

Ohhh, if only that were the case. You let them believe that they had the upper hand, and instead, skillfully manipulated them. Now Team Hebi was _right_ where you wanted them. And in the end, they'd be too crippled to escape the Leaf when this whole ordeal was said and done. They might not realize it yet, but they're cooked.

More and more ninja soldiered in, over the short walls of the graveyard. Sasuke is here! Of course they would! But with him were intruders, and they can’t be left standing! So time must be bought until people such as Uzamaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura and friends could come by to complicate things. Messenger birds flitted overhead to the forest, going in the same direction. Perhaps Sasuke’s childhood friends were out in the field. It would be nice if they didn’t interfere.

The air was riddled with flying, singing metal. Sasuke had taken up a position right next to you to prevent any of these weapons from hitting you, and Suigetsu had gone out more into the horde to do what he could, while Jugo covered the opposite end. Karin was staying out of it as best she could, and was able to fend off anyone that came at her. Apparently she could do that for herself at least.

Without warning you dropped to one knee and slammed a palm into the ground, holding your wrist with the opposite hand. A seal spread out, written in blackish purple chakra, and then you rose up. The diagram that had drawn itself into the grass looked very much like the same one used for summoning a beast. But it spread out and out, touching every grave. The ground began to quake. Headstones shivered and cracked, and the stone wall fencing this place in began crumble, the mortar breaking, stones tumbling down on the sides.  
But the best part had to be the gnarled, rotted human bodies breaking up through the ground. A disgusting stench thickened the air and you watched expectantly and took out that syringe. “Sasuke.” He was already watching you with an accusatory stare, knowing already that this whole thing didn't work. Since he was otherwise engaged you ventured towards him and grasped an arm, pulled him closer, popped the cap off the needle…then jabbed it into him in a place he really didn’t expect.

“AGH! What the FUCK?!?!?!” He glared at you, and before he could yank the needle out you pushed the plunger down then ripped it back out, nearly making him squeal with pain. Talk about hitting below the belt.

“Aren’t you going to greet your relatives Sasuke? It’s been so long since you’ve seen them!” You taunted him after noticing that Karin, Jugo and Suigetsu followed your lead and injected themselves. He hammered an elbow against your chest where the lungs are, and your eyes widened as you coughed up some blood. It didn't feel as if he struck _that_ hard, but you were a little numb from exerting so much chakra at once. Perhaps it was better that way, because coughing up blood sure as hell isn’t a good thing, and breathing would hurt.

Arms of decayed relatives wrapped around Sasuke, a cocoon of dead bone and earth-caked flesh. He thrashed in their grip but tried to keep his cool, seeking a way to turn this situation around and trying to make sure that he didn't get bit or clawed in the process. Across the way, Karin gave a shrill outcry and shrank against the nearest wall, one hand fumbling for a loose stone to use as a bludgeon. But her fingers wouldn’t close around its rough shape. Her movements became increasingly clumsy and weak, and she watched you make a few more handseals and activated the Shield Aspect, widening the field so it covered the whole graveyard, then turned into a ghost yourself so Sasuke’s next attack wouldn’t land now that he freed himself. His eyes contained nothing more than empty hate right then and there. Sasuke was so trapped in emotion that he couldn’t comprehend how stupid he should be feeling right now, and continued to tear apart as many foes as he could once you were no longer within reach.  
Not far off, Suigetsu was a zombie lawn mower. He used his sword to hack apart any corpses in range and he was going at it for a fast clip, but sure enough his movements slowed. It was nothing compared to Karin. She barely managed to scramble out of the way and was now white as a sheet and sweating profusely where she stood atop a portion of wall which hadn’t crumbled yet, also where the zombies couldn’t catch her. Her head had been nearly touching the curvature of your containment shield. But she was having a hard time doing anything right now. Her muscles were stiffening and her nerves were on fire. She wanted to scream but her jaw was completely locked. The poison you’d given her in place of a zombie drool repellant was probably about to begin working on her respiratory system. Too bad none of them realized that you didn't take the 'antidote' yourself until it was too late.

Suigetsu staggered in her direction but there was little he could do. Sasuke started using his fire style to cremate the corpses, but it didn’t work very well since it was not hot enough. They became walking torches instead, and lumbered after him. Sasuke then used his Chidori to rip into them and while he did this, you solidified behind him and took out the last syringe, then stabbed him in the side of the neck with it. Before he could hit you, you were transparent again and laughing at him. He pulled the needle from his neck and whipped it out of reach, but it pinged against the shield and landed back inside the graveyard. Right outside the boundary more Leaf ninja accumulated, their mouths opening and closing but no sound crossed over. A group of them was trying to break through with jutsus of their own, but each attempt rebounded dangerously, and their superiors ordered them to withdraw temporarily. The group of ninja outside had tripled in size. Familiar faces began to appear amongst the small army. Amongst them were Shikamaru, Ino, Kiba, Chouji, and surely more than that.

You smirked. Good. There'd be an audience for Team Hebi's failure.

 

_Beyond the Shield..._

 

Outside the barrier, Kiba drew level with Shikamaru. "Hey, can you see a weakness? We got to get in there. Sasuke can't get away again."

Shikamaru gritted his teeth. Kiba and Akamaru could _possibly_ drill a hole in the barrier with Fang Over Fang if he concentrated enough 'oomph!' into the attack, but he wasn't positive that it was a sound plan to pop that bubble. "We don't have a real understanding of what's happening in there." Shika admitted begrudgingly. _'Man, what a drag. This is an enormous mess, and it's going to get out of hand fast once that shield drops. He's not thinking this through.'_ He thought to himself, brown eyes skimming around the area for weak points. _'But Kiba's right. We can't let Sasuke get away either. He's got a lot to answer for. What to do...'_ Other teams milled around them, while Ino and Chouji drew closer to Shikamaru and Kiba, who glanced down at his canine friend. The beast of a dog was crossed between being terrified and standoffish, growling and trying not to tuck his tail out of fear. His nose told him that unnatural things were afoot inside that graveyard, and that they should have no part of it. Kiba placed a hand reassuringly against the dog's thick ruff of fur at the back of his neck, trying to keep him calm. 

Beside them, Ino stretched up to stand on her tiptoes and see above the crowd, and caught sight of a another familiar shape. Her aquamarine eyes widened, and she relaxed the muscles in her legs, nearly rocking back on her heels. "That woman is here." She said after a second's pause. Last time she had a run in with you, it had nearly been fatal for both herself and Sakura. 

"Saiya, of the Gyaku Clan." Shikamaru said. 

"I've got to get her back for last time." Ino said, and felt her innards cinching into a noose of apprehension at the memory.  
"I hate to say it Ino, but Sasuke is our first priority. Let everyone else focus on her." Shikamaru voice. Ino glared at him. "Didn't you fight her before?! You know what she's capable of, the only chance we have to definitely catch her is if I can use my Mind Transfer!"

"That may be so, but how do you think you'll get a chance to do that amidst all the chaos?" Shikamaru responded coolly, and Ino fought the urge to turn and walk away. But she'd be running from the truth. "And besides, we may need that for Sasuke. She is _a_ problem, but not _the_ problem. You'll have your revenge Ino, but not today."

Kiba agreed readily. "Shikamaru's right. How many chances will we get to catch Sasuke and stop Naruto and Sakura from getting into even deeper shit than they're already in?"

Chouji appeared worried, standing next to Ino. "Hey, we'll get her back. Promise. Just like how we got those Akatsuki guys back for Asuma-sensei." He hoped mentioning their late teacher would jar some sense into her. Above all, Chouji was hoping to help dissuade her from a potentially fatal course of action. Last time she nearly died, if it wasn't for Kakashi getting to her when he did. They already lost Asuma. He couldn't bear losing her, too. And he knew Shikamaru felt the exact same way, even if he didn't say it. 

"Except she took that away." Ino voiced, clutching her right wrist with her left hand, massaging a tendon on the underside. She had sprained it yesterday morning during a sparring session, and it ached a little. "That woman brought those two back. And we still don't have Asuma-sensei. Kurenai is raising their little girl Mirai all alone, and now, she'll never know her father while his murderer runs around sacrificing more people to that stupid 'god' of his." She used air quotes and dropped her hands by her sides. Her friends had gone quiet. Ino said aloud what nobody wanted to think about. But she was a hundred percent correct. It was as if they did nothing at all, and the score was hardly level.

"So we go after her when this is done." Chouji said slowly, turning to look up at the dome. Shikamaru followed his gaze, watching the roil of motion within. "And we make her pay. But first, we deal with Sasuke before he slips through our fingers again."

Ino lowered her head, knowing these words were spoken in earnest. They'd see it through, and she had to think of others also; Naruto and Sakura deserved this. She could wait.

"Yes. That'll be enough." Ino whispered, hugging herself.

 

_Back In The Dome..._

The conflict raged for awhile, but you'd have to relent. It was possible that the Leaf ninja could find a way inside and it'd get messier than necessary. You looked at the younger Uchiha brother, who was fighting for his life.

 __Your voice filled his head and it was laced with malice and mockery. His anger spiked and with a burst of energy he ignored the effects of the second injection, which only began to work on his system. Soon, he’d have the same symptoms as Karin. A cold sweat already dotted through his shirt.  
Underfoot the huge ritual circle flared brighter, and the zombies seemed to be pull themselves back together, the ones that were merely cut apart that is. Every pulse of the glyphs and lines glowing upon the earth made the corpses regenerate. Karin was trying to hyperventilate but couldn’t even access her chakra to neutralize the venom, plus, your energy was thick in the air. If nothing else incapacitated her, _that_ would. Nearby, the big old lug Jugo was slowing down too but not by much. He was a meat tank, capable of absorbing a tremendous amount of punishment with nary a wobble.

After surveying the damage caused, you decided it was a good chance to leave. Staying here much longer did no good. The zombies would want to chew on anything that moved. Even you. So you flew up into the sky and allowed the barrier to fade, and the summoning circle below it also dissipated, meaning the rotting corpses would stop regenerating now that your aura no longer suffused them with power. It took a lot out of you, but the results were worth the effort. From this altitude you distantly saw Konoha reinforcements push into the graveyard and heard the screams down below. Then you went off to the border and made your way to a new place. For your own little mission you had to go ahead and get mister Killer Bee. 

The journey would be long and you were alone. You had to cover your tracks and keep going. Hopefully no one would be in any condition to follow, not for awhile at least, and if luck held out none of the Konoha shinobi would give chase either. If nothing else you’d get a head start. And hopefully the diversion went on long enough for the others to do their job and then make good their escape. Ideally, Team Hebi wouldn’t bother anyone for awhile. But Sasuke is a self proclaimed avenger. Now he had a reason to seek revenge on you, too. You just pitted him against his own family after bringing them back into an incomplete form of life. That doesn’t exactly earn points.

As you ran on fatigue struck, and you missed a tree branch and fell, hitting the ground hard. You rolled onto your back and stared up at the crisscrossing branches which built the forest canopy. Your coughed up another mouthful of blood, and heart was pounding. Weariness was sinking its hooks in. That stunt back there soaked up way too much chakra in one sitting. There had been _a lot_ of those people six feet under, plus regenerating their injuries and sustaining a containment field to limit the radius you had to supply with chakra. And that doesn't count switching your body in and out of ghost mode. The amount of effort alone poured into portioning out all that energy should be exhaustive. Laying motionless in the leaves, your eyelids began to drift shut. You didn’t notice it until you felt the comfort of sleep begin to settle upon your limbs, like snow weighing down branches.

 _’Fuck. No! I can’t sit around!’_ You dragged your body up and stood, looking around the shaded thicket. So far so good. No one was close enough for you to detect them at least, so you pressed on. This was going to be much harder than you thought. You were down a lot of chakra and had to replenish it quickly. And this wasn’t just some ninja you were going to fight. It’s the Eight Tailed Demon. 

Damn, you had a way of getting yourself into trouble.


	35. The Night of a Thousand Swords

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You make your way to the Hidden Cloud and later wind up in a tremendous battle against Killer Bee, vessel of the Eight Tailed Demon.

The Night of a Thousand Swords

 

Journeys have a habit of wasting on forever when one has only a weak grasp of patience. As such, it is most fortunate you’re nothing like Sasori and were equally glad he wasn’t here. This was your second solo mission since you joined, and even then it had not been ‘solo’. Deidara and Sasori had followed in secret, and probably Zetsu too, given his nosy nature. That creature had a love of watching battles. Specifically he had almost a sixth sense for knowing which to watch. He only took time out from missions and otherwise to see _epic_ battles: cataclysmic ones; the likes of which are seldom to never seen in a normal lifetime.

You trekked through the long shade of fragrant, earthy woods, over sleepy plains, through jagged ravines and around tranquil lakes to, eventually…a country which is jealously guarded by its terrain as well as its people. The Village Hidden in the Clouds was surrounded by mountains enshrouded in mist that floated in the divides and over stony crests. It was extremely hard to break in there without either snapping a limb or being seen if one chose the paths of least resistance. Despite all this, it was something you needn’t worry about. All you had to do was thin your body down into complete transparency and you could make your way in along the largest route, which was often used as a main artery for traders. It took some days, over a week to travel there alone across the wilderness, chiefly because it'd been years since you came here last. But memory served you well in the end and finally you were staring up at the gargantuan gates into the village itself. Twas’ a bit harder to breathe here as well. The elevation was much higher than you were accustomed to; and boy did it dig up some memories. When you first came here with an ANBU cell from the Grass, you _all_ were breathing hard in no time flat since Kusagakure doesn't rest at a high elevation, that is to say nothing of how the mission was time sensitive so you had to high-tail it to the destination, which didn't offer enough of an opportunity to acclimate. Everybody from the Hidden Grass was used to massive bamboo and mushroom forests which fenced in yawning, grassy plains that rolled gently away into the distance, appearing nearly flat as far as the eye can see. So you couldn't be more out of your element. While it had its benefits during a fight, the Cloud's terrain easily turned into a hindrance to your team when they arrived and just about immediately got into a fight with Uchiha Megami, the Iron Maiden. She was not to be taken lightly, and everyone in your group was gasping for oxygen within minutes. 

But that was quite awhile ago. Not only are you far stronger than you had been on the last trip to the Cloud, but you more experienced than before. First thing you did was assume the guise of a normal citizen and went into town to get a place to recuperate. If you wanted to fight that jinchuuriki ‘Killer Bee’, you had to be as close as possible to peak form. In the meantime after taking a few days off for a breather (as well as adjust to the climate) you’d keep your eyes and ears open and do a bit of recon work for now and try to flush Megami out. Despite the need to get things done however, your mind wandered off in Itachi’s general direction and it was hard to get much done properly when he kept cropping up somewhere in your thoughts.

By now you were there for a day and Megami wasn’t at her residence both times you checked. From the looks of it by peeking into a window she hadn’t been home for awhile but it was easy to tell that she did live there. She had expressed vividly before how she’d like to remain a thorn in the Cloud’s side for as long as possible….it seemed as though Megs couldn’t exist without someone to inflict herself upon. And if that happened to be you one day, well, quite honestly, you’d kill her without a second thought and harvest her eyes in case you ever found a need for a spare pair of Uchiha eyeballs, they certainly are a rarity now. That being said, Megs is useful to an extent. Both of you were on speaking terms but did not have feelings in any way for one another except in the sense of business, and friendship was practically off the table. Neither of you spoke often or long enough for that, and nor was there a desire to do so.

This, you determined, didn't matter. Whether or not she showed up had no bearing on if you could finish this mission, but it would be nice to rub it in her face that you were making good on your promise.

Later on you’d go into town and get some dinner. Luckily you had yet to be discovered. Although, in some cases, it is not luck, but skill. And eating out was a better idea than you had planned for; Killer Bee is a local celebrity. He was a guy that the youngest shinobi aspired to be as powerful as in the future and you overheard the locals nattering on and on about him and his latest rap competition, many of them often annoyed by the concept of rap, usually saying something to the effect of; 'whatever happened to the music of the good ole' days?' You made it your business to assume different guises and wander the city, and decided to mix it up and hopefully get favorable results; switching from one restaurant or ramen stall to another. At night you would visit one of the bars and have a couple of drinks, acting the part of a lonely woman new to town who had yet to meet anyone. It was a little surprising how many ninja would show up to flirt and goof off rather than being abroad on a mission. The ones that wanted to inflict their company upon you were often male, with the occasionally tipsy woman who was stood up by her date. These people proved to be decent sources of information if you maneuvered the conversation correctly, but never in a way that could arouse suspicion. Asking the same questions in a similar format too often would be unwise.

In the morning or afternoon, you'd be barely picking at a plate of food with a newspaper spread open upon the table, pretending to read up on the daily gruel that the media refers to as news. This was recon work, not happy hour. But by far, the most useful source of information arrived in the form of young chuunin and even younger, greener genin. They’d arrive by the droves at lunch hour, and chatter endlessly about seeing Killer train when they could sneak a peek, either on dares or pure nerve. But still you had no idea what they were talking about, this place he trained at. They didn’t describe it aptly enough to figure it out on your own, since everybody knew what everybody else was referring to with relatively minimal description. You’d been eavesdropping on genin and chuunin for days, as well as other townsfolk, and had not found this training area that Killer Bee frequented. And you’d seen neither hide nor hair of Megami, who would surely have answers to your questions. Since she was to be of no use to you for now you did what you had to (growling to yourself the whole time about how pathetic this felt that you couldn’t find such flamboyant jinchuuriki); and went to the academy when you heard some kids were going to sneak over after classes and watch Killer Bee train. The whole way you stalked them, one thought occurred…that this was extremely sad that these children weren't trained properly enough to know when they've picked up a tail. Or if they were taught correctly, they were being stupid and acting under the sad, sad assumption that they are safe in their own borders. Also from the sounds of it they were supposed to be home right after school, but they were giddy that they were breaking rules and were talking all ‘badass’ the way young kids do who’ve taken a serious ego boost…which had to do with the rule breaking part. You figured they didn’t go out of bounds too often or else it wouldn’t make them feel so quivery and high. Nevertheless, they are young and inexperienced. And you had years ahead of them. They wouldn’t realize that they were being stalked by an S-class rogue kunoichi; Gyaku Saiya, medic of Akatsuki, disciple of Nagato Pein, the Sage of the Six Paths. It's hard to fault them for not knowing.

“I dunno guys is this really a good idea?”

But then, there is _usually_ that one child with a voice of reason and a little halo over his head.

“Ahhwww, c’mon, its good! Jura and Tai both went and no one found out!”  
“Yeah, Hideki, Kin and Takuyi also, they were fine…”  
“Ohh I know but…”  
“Shaddup! What, you scaaared?”  
“N-no!! It’s just that…that…”  
“What, fraidy' cat?”  
“I got a really really _realllllly_ bad feeling. That’s it.”

They didn’t respond to that, figuring that he was getting cold feet.

You crept around the broad side of a boulder, watching the students move on by it. Rather than follow them as a ghost you decided to do this old school; in the flesh, and kill them in the end. Right now they were leading you far out of town, gradually veering lower and lower to the bases of rock spires, until you saw water. By now a shorter rocky island amidst the natural stony towers came into sight, with a flight of stairs up to an opening midway into the small island. But it was a big enough place for a several people to train. Or in this case, one jinchuuriki. At first you didn’t see the guy but he came flipping over a rock beside the stairs in the middle, landing in the open, and whirled around to block an attack by one of his clones. You noted that he was a bit strange; using a sword in the crook of his arms, in his hands too of course, neck and shoulder…teeth…anywhere he could hold a katana on his white-clad person, he was. Blanching a bit, you figured you wouldn’t be surprised if he could wield a blade with his rear end and toes as well. Ick.

“Woooooooow!” One of the kids gasped. “That is sooo cool!”

“Yeah! Man, I'm so glad we did this!" 

You sighed, watching the three of them bunch together along a cluster of rocks so they could see the training and remain unseen. You unsheathed your katana and they turned, hearing the noise…turning sluggishly, fearful that an adult had discovered them.  
This is true, one had. You also, in one strong foreword-thrust with the katana, had pierced all three of them through the chest at once…like a skewer, dead into their small chests. The last boy barely had two inches of the blade in his body, but it would do. You twisted the katana with minor difficulty since there were three of them strung upon it, and soon their twitching would stop. Most people don’t have a chance to speak when their heart has been impaled. But their eyes asked all the questions they had in mind.

Such as…’Why’? ‘Who are you’? ‘What are you doing here’?

You smiled, letting gravity take them so they slid on their own down the angled blade, each dropping to the ground with a thud, one atop the next. “Your deaths are not in vain. You've all played a vital part.” You told them in a voice that could be described as soothing, while life dimmed in their eyes…you hadn’t managed to get the second two perfect center through the heart, they were taking longer to perish. You knelt down and lay the stained black blade over their shirts then drew it towards yourself slowly, to wipe off the blood, then flipped it to the other side and gave the same treatment. “On this eve, Akatsuki shall remove from Kumogakure the threat that is the Eight Tailed Demon. And you played your parts admirably.” This was meant as a cold jab. They acted in no such way. If they were to survive, they'd make certain to directly return home from school forevermore. But that's not the case. There was no way they'd live through a sword to the chest.

“Wh…why…why…do…this…?” The cautious boy was the first to die, but the other two who’d sort-of heckled him for his fears were still alive. You tilted your head, seeing that the middle one had been caught beside the very left chamber of his heart, and the other had been impaled a fraction to the side of his friend’s injury. Both would die. That is still a vital point, a severed major artery. They were hemorrhaging buckets of blood, and it was likely filling into their chest cavities, intermingling with body fluids. Their shirts were completely soaked through to their skin and rocks were stained dark in the night, gleaming under the moon.

“What’s the point of such a question when you’re about to die?” You asked him softly, eyes flashing towards the jinchuuriki whom was no longer in plain sight. Your expression flattened into the nothingness of a poker face. “I see. He must be nearby, listening.”  
“N-no..not..B..b..”

“It isn’t often that I find myself in a conversation with a dead child.” You said, having sheathed your cleaned katana and tightened your half finger gloves over your hands, then reached up and grasped the silver Jashin charm hung around your neck, an inverted triangle enclosed in a circle. You’d need all the luck you could get; you knew that now. All the luck and the skill. You removed the necklace, and holding the chain so that half of the necklace dangled over your closed fingers, the charm hanging in the cool night air, you rested your closed fist to your mouth as you'd seen Hidan do so often. 

“That! You’re..” The third boy gasped, and you opened your eyes. “My opponent is a jinchuuriki.” You murmured to them, closing your moon-illuminated amethyst eyes again. “Who thinks I haven’t noticed him yet.” 

_Lord Jashin...I don’t know if he really exists, but if he does, now’s as good a chance as any to start following the commandments, I suppose. All but the last part anyway._

Hidan usually prayed before battle when he had the chance. Though you weren't sure what he said in his thoughts, you'd pray now too. Might as well give it a fair shot, right? It was the least you could do rather than smite yourself in his name, like Hidan always had. That wasn’t about to happen. If you did any dieing, it sure as hell wasn’t for some deity. 

When you opened your eyes for the second time, Killer Bee was posed on the rocks behind them, arms crossed, head up, shoulders back. You lowered your fist slightly, the charm swaying and gleaming bright.  
“You’re a crazy crazy woman. What’re you doin’ here? Will you stay or will you go? Oh! Yeah!”

“They’re already dead.” You responded emotionlessly, ignoring that which he seemed to think was ‘poetic’, placing the necklace back around your throat. The chain was long enough to wind it around your neck a few times like a choker so the charm hung higher, just below your collar bones, and as you did so, went on to say, “But neither of them have realized it yet. Their friend made the correct decision, to let go before he suffer needlessly.”

“They got a right to stay alive, they be a part of the future, for your cruelty you’ll suffer, yeah!”

You stared at him, taking in that oddly singsong voice. “Are you seriously going to keep that nonsense up?”

“I’m Lord Killer Bee, you’ll die before me, I’ll avenge these children, when they go to heaven you’ll burn in hell…oh! Yeah…!” Then he paused and wrote something down in a little notebook.

“I take that as a yes.” You flitted from sight whilst he was preoccupied and made your way to the island area. Let him have the home field advantage, it didn’t matter at all where this happened. But you preferred an area like this to an extent. It was a wider open than other rocky areas and water was available, should it be required. When you touched down he arrived as well, and you heard a series of metallic sounds from behind. You twisted to peer over your shoulder, seeing that the guy had now assumed the stance from earlier in training, with all those swords held any which way his body could manage. You waited for him to initiate the attack, which he did because he was on a roll. By that it meant he was just spouting off more of his spur of the moment verses that he found to be catchy, and the swords in his hands shorn the air when thrown in your direction. You evaded them without moving very much at all. Not far away, the children were collapsed in a pool of blood and dead at last. 

“You, lady, from—“ Before he could snap out another ‘lyric’ you unsheathed your katana and wakizashi and charged him. Anything to shut him up! He continued on though, spiraling around, blocking both of your blades easily before wheeling a few more swords towards you. You barely evaded them and continued to fend off the assault, moving around the island aimlessly as you did so. But this guy was already insanely difficult to attack; with all those katana held every which way on his person, you couldn’t touch him as long as he kept momentum.

 _’I can’t compete with him like this…’_ You thought, sweeping beneath another seven-pronged attack, popping up behind him, and aiming to strike beside his lower spine. This was half-assed and parried like it was nothing; all he had to do was spin in place to fend your katana off. You barely managed to avoid it when he let some of those swords fly, and they had been thrown hard by his momentum indeed; when they struck rock, they became embedded a third of the way up the blade. You caught sight of that out of your peripheral vision and suppressed a scowl.

 _’Fuck.’_ You really _are_ more proficient than others when it came to getting in over your head. 

“I’m a whirlwind, gonna blow you away baby, oh yeah!”

He wouldn’t stop rushing at you. Over and over again you dodged and blocked, sparks issuing from the friction of hardest collisions; metal upon metal. He was going to wear you down at this rate, and you'd prefer to keep the Ghost Aspect for a nasty surprise later. For now, you’d have to create an opening. To do that a diversion was required. And it didn’t have to last for long. As long as he possibly didn’t know who you were, and thus had no clue what your abilities were, you’d be safe.  
So you began to use the Lightning Aspect, one of the five you seldom to never touched, and let the bolts streak up your katana like a lightning rod. At that moment Killer Bee began to stream his chakra up one blade, lightning as well. The second you noticed this you broke your own lightning jutsu and instead consumed your blade in wind chakra. The reaction was instant; it broke through his lightning stream, and it snapped that one blade in half. The bright sliver of metal flipped end over end on its way down, striking the ground on its tip and clanging down upon one side. You leapt back, somersaulted once, landed a good distance from the would-be rapper, and watched him for a moment to see what he’d do.

Sure enough he gave pause to think, staring at you from behind his pince-nez sunglasses. _’She used the wind element after lightning. Normally one person can’t use both.’_ They’re opposing elements anyway, wind being able to cancel out lightning, such as how water is to fire, earth to water, fire to wind, and lightning to earth. It bewildered him, but not openly. He’d sit back now and wait to see what you’d do, resulting in a standoff. Both of you were staring one another down and considering the situation.

Your eyes traveled from one blade to the next that Bee was cradling with his whole person. That was very hard to combat indeed. He was more acrobatic than any other shinobi you had seen or heard of, and certainly no one else could wield that sheer number of swords at once. He was even able to pick them all back up with the crooks of his knees and elbows after having thrown them before. For such a big guy, he had good control of his body.  
Then it hit you as your eyes moved from one sword to the next; an idea that is. He began to edge towards you, having his legs freed because he moved the sword held between thigh and calf (he’d been balanced on one foot), and was holding that blade in hand now.  
You staked your katana and wakizashi into the ground, straightened up, folded your hands together in the seal of concentration and began to absorb free energy from the air the earth and water around you as rapidly as possible. Threads of chakra became tangible in the air and Killer Bee stopped moving again to wait and see if it’d set him back any if he attacked now.  
More and more chakra accumulated. Those two blades of yours now freed themselves and levitated into the air, both gleaming along the edges, imbued with new energy. The Gyaku clan insignia engraved into the blades also glowed, and now you struck off into a series of handseals. The two blades, as well as your body, progressively became more and more translucent until you were pale as the mist drifting about rocky spires nearby. Your eyes began to glow sinister, poisonous purple as well.  
Needless to say this alone was enough to stymie anybody. Killer Bee wasn’t about to budge and had automatically prepared to go on the defensive in case whatever this jutsu was you were doing was going to be especially formidable. So far it only appeared ominous but he wasn't ready to jump to conclusions. You were translucent, and your weapons were now moving on their own. He currently knew your skill with a blade and you weren’t as good as him, but that did not mean this was to be ignored. Clearly the intention was to level the playing field somehow with this tactic, but still, he had to wonder: could he even land a strike on you while your body looked that way? You didn't even look solid to him anymore, though this could always be an illusion.

Especially when the katana and wakizashi flashed and he closed his eyes to spare being blinded, then soon chanced a look from behind his shaded pince-nez…those two weapons were now many. His eyes darted from one blade to the next as each righted itself, some flipping end over end in midair so they could point straight at him. You were _surrounded_ by these spectral blades. There had to be a hundred or so of them. He shook his head and squinted through the moonlit night, wondering if his eyes deceived him. Were they clones? Was it some genjutsu that he stupidly let you weave over him while he stood back out of pure caution?

You leapt up from the ground and floated in the middle of this phantom arsenal and, in that moment, the sound of over a hundred blades parting the air rent the silence. Bee ducked and dodged, parried, did what he must to avoid getting hit. But it didn’t work well. There were too many of them for him to keep his eyes on. The hundred-plus weapons had surrounded him and struck from all angles, shooting through the air and if they missed, became buried in rock up to the hilt. He eyed one of these almost nervously while parrying several others with each thin sword he carried on his body. All around him, any blades which had stuck into the rocks wrenched themselves out, spun back around and dove straight for him once more.  
If he got hit by one of those it could be the beginning of the end. Your ghostly arsenal might appear harmlessly translucent (to him personally) at first glance, but if they were perforating solid stone with apparent ease; then they weren’t as pointless as he might think whether you ‘lacked’ skill or not.  
SHANK! He lost three swords at a point-blank strike from three of your own. They dropped in two halves each to the ground with a dull clang, and in their place, ten more ghost swords shot point-first at Killer Bee in these three newly created openings in his defense. He was beginning to wear down, shifting around the clearing in leaps and bounds and somersaults, spiraling to deflect the incessant assault…it was never ending! He was getting a taste of his own medicine and could not well withstand it. His fighting style was excellent when it came to the offensive; but defense is where all those swords gripped by every crook of his body paled in usage. For Killer Bee, his best defense was a superb offense.

 _’As I suspected.’_ You thought, hands clamped together in focus. _’Although it would be very hard for most to fight such a number of swords at once. He had a good idea going there. I’ll have to keep this jutsu combination in mind for any other nasty situations.’_ It was an interesting one for sure but it was another chakra-heavy ability. Tis’ a good thing you’d thought to use the free energy in the air, ground, and water, or else you’d be worn down severely as well; not necessarily from fighting but from putting out so much chakra at once. 

However Killer Bee had probably a lot more chakra than you did. Especially now when calling upon the power of the Eight Tailed Demon. A thick, nasty red aura burbled up around Killer’s body, and even as you watched, this new aura spiked back into eight long tail-like shapes. That didn’t look very good at all and you didn’t want it to get very far. That was a bad sign when it came to jinchuuriki; not to mention it’s the first stage before the host transforms into the demon itself.  
Although you did not really know any of that from actual experience, but were told about it from the others instead. The last time you fought a jinchuuriki it had been Naruto and he didn’t get a chance to go that far.  
You lent fifteen blades to the task of disrupting the chakra flow, mostly to run a test. Since the original katana and wakizashi were made of a special metal that resonates with the wielder’s chakra, you ought to be able to do what you had in mind.  
When the blades rammed into Killer Bee’s demon cloak, a blinding flash permeated the immediate area and you were grateful that your eyes were not flesh for the moment. You could watch directly into it and see the results.

A hole was blasted into the left side of his aura, against his ribcage, the long points of five blades buried a third of the way into his side. This was a satisfactory result, you had wondered if all the blade clones would be obliterated by the Demon Beast's raw power. Still; you had sent in fifteen, and only five remained. This aura of his was highly corrosive. Even now it was beginning to eat at him like acid, and flecks of skin peeled, scorched, and floated upwards in the current of his power. Blood was coursing down over his previously pristine white clothes, staining it deep crimson and pooling on the rocky ground he stood upon. It looked like a dark gleaming lake under the moon above, illuminated with a white shine around the rim.  
The swords were alight around the edges, having become superheated now, and Killer Bee tried to wrench one of them from his fractured ribcage. Not only did a piece of bone ‘pop!’ out into sight, a centimeter or so of it; the thin trickle of blood smoking and simmering on the way down his side. But along this new rivulet of blood came what looked like a metallic snake. It was darker, not exactly the color of steel, but it began to glow since it had heated enough to melt from the katanas. They were all beginning to soften at the edges. You focused on these and superheated them yet further with the Fire Aspect and Killer Bee gritted his teeth in a futile attempt to ignore the pain. You tilted your head, translucent threads of your raven hair swaying to the side…you were emotionless as always. Even to this seasoned veteran of a shinobi it never changed how threatening such a foe is…the kind that is hard assed enough to watch their own team mates fall in battle and not twitch. Hell, you even stalked and slaughtered three innocent children without so much as a guilty twinge that he could see.

 _’A ghost…’_ He gasped painfully and thought about it, and when his thick fingers closed around the handle of a second katana, his skin smoked and his half finger gloves fused to the flesh with a hiss. _’…She can…wield more swords than…me…’_

He managed to wrench each sword from his ribcage despite the agony. The demon aura poured over that spot once more like a red tide, a mess of broken bone, melted metal, and burnt blood though it was. 

_’…able to use minor jutsus without hand seals…’_

There were still plenty of katana and wakizashi left floating around, with the originals settled on each side of you within easy reach. You were watching Bee's demon cloak burn at his skin. It seemed about as harmful to him as it would be to you.  
_’I won’t be able to disrupt that aura after all.’_ You thought. _’At the very least it is damaging him as he uses it. I doubt I can use anything but a potent combination of ninjutsu and taijutsu at once to pierce the veil and damage him at this rate.’_ You glanced around the vicinity, sensing here and there for more chakra, and would have grimaced if you weren’t wearing the poker face. _’Not enough spare energy to mount any more than two attacks of that caliber, and with him transforming it might not be enough. Using nothing but my own chakra would ruin my defense, then I'd be a sitting duck all over again.’_

Killer Bee had begun a series of handseals and you had little choice but to wait. That demon chakra wasn’t to be taken lightly. His body bulged, became misshapen, and the energy tails and his legs had melded together to shape into the long tentacles of an octopus. His arms bulked up and his palms pressed to the ground for support, his head shaping into that of a bull’s with round white eyes rimmed in heavy black. His entire body was lined with either skinless and visible sinew or the thick, rubbery hide of a kraken clinging to his every detail. It was hard to say, but you noted the heavy striations of built muscle mass that flexed at the tiniest movement, he radiated power now in many aspects. When that beast moved, the ground shuddered beneath. You watched the smaller rocks and shale shift in place unconcernedly, and then you looked up at this mismatched monstrosity. 

_’Nasty.’_ You thought, and began to do some handseals, finishing four of them, then completing it with a fifth; concentration.  
This was done in time for one gargantuan tentacle to come crashing down towards you. Swords shot in the way and crossed, forming a circular shield of blades, handles all touching at the center. They trembled and creaked with the force of holding such a huge limb up away from you, but you hadn’t wanted to test and see if that would go straight through you or not. It’s hard to tell with a demon what is and isn’t possible. But this had another purpose. You were able to command the weapons to flip end over end, breaking the shield, but infused with extra chakra were now hammering into the end of that tentacle and held it in place long enough for the next move.

Two more handseals later, fifty wakizashi and katana edged with black chakra and parted the air towards their goal; that very tentacle, and perforated along the curvature of its bulk in a spiral pattern. You were amazed it worked. Now that you were close enough to examine it, the demon’s hide was more like a sort of rubbery carapace. But if you give some chakra to it, that’s just the bit that was needed.

“BWAHAHAHAAA!” He laughed thunderously, his voice shivering the smaller stones as if he had moved. Now Killer Bee was swollen with overconfidence. You were an insignificant fly to him and he could toy around all he liked. You would pay for your insolence. He’d see to it!

Or, ahem, so he thought.  
Because now the sword clones did something completely unexpected; and exploded all at once, until Killer Bee was left with one less tentacle. His round eyes bulged out of their sockets and he let out an animalistic bellow of pain, throwing his horned head back as he did.

“I will pay for my ‘insolence’, you think?” You asked him when he quieted, now shuddering. A heavy, dark substance oozed from the remaining stump. Hunks of smoking flesh rained to the ground, and any nearby surface was pattered with that viscous fluid which must be his demonic blood.

_’What the!?’_

“What indeed.”

He dropped silent. Now Bee had a minute understanding that his thoughts were not privy to himself. What a scary concept…an enemy who can read his mind.

 _’At least he acts mostly on instinct. I can’t read every thought anyhow, only the blatant ones.’_ But there was one thing that gave you pause. Killer Bee was very much at peace with the Eight Tails, which meant he wouldn't be anywhere near as reckless as most notable jinchuuriki. The two parts worked as a whole, which quadruples the threat. And it was plain to see that Killer Bee intended to be serious now. He figured that he can’t hide his plans. So it was time to give you a run for your money and pointed his nose to the sky, and a mass of chakra began to gather, spinning into a compact orb.

 _’He assumes much, but not without cause. This is good for me; he'll react more plainly now, but I can't read both of their minds even if they're working together. Bee's mind is easy enough, but the Eight-Tails is a beast in a class of its own. It's existed longer than Bee, certainly, and thus has more experience.’_ You carefully monitored his mind but now all you could feel was a bulbous mass of anger tinged by fear, broiling within a sulfuric ocean of the Eight Tail's rage. All that was on Killer Bee’s mind was to take you down. There was nothing else that you could disentangle from the mass of emotions. This was going to get messy really quick. And you couldn’t overdo it and kill him; but how do you knock out a monster like this guy?  
You cast around for an answer. Nothing but stone and water here. 

Hmmmmmmmm…water. Now there’s an idea!

You waited for him to fire that mass of energy and when it was fully prepared he set it loose, a long crater breaking deep into the ground in its wake. You turned and fled for the water and Killer Bee was quick to follow, his seven remaining tentacles slamming the ground and catapulting his sinewy bulk forward. You barely dodged above the energy ball and when it hit a rock pillar, the stone collapsed straight away into nothing but a large mound of rubble half beneath the water. You glanced around while dodging a tree-trunk tentacle and noticed that most of the swords survived. Good, because you’d need every shard of metal you could get for this next jutsu. While flying away you spun in air to face Bee, since he had continued to follow without a thought, and was now slithering his many armed self off the new island of rock debris. In a far away place, your ears were ringing still from the impact volume of his earlier attack.

As the moron’s body became partially submerged in the deep water below you were already working on a series of seals. Halfway through it your army of swords each became encased in black chakra with a fine sheen of purple, including all the broken shards of other swords he had managed to destroy with his recent attack. Thankfully, not all of the damaged ones vanished. As Killer Bee began to charge up another energy ball, (with the intention of using it at point-blank range) what felt like a thousand sharp points of metal slammed into him, piercing his heavy octopus carapace with minor difficulty, each bit of metal buried into him thoroughly. It hurt as though a horde of aggressive insects had stung him, but it wouldn’t stop his work on this new energy sphere, ignoring that the last ten katana now were floating around him, points foreword.

You weren’t done. You grasped your sword and wakizashi and began to route lightning through them and moved as fast as you could to the topmost katana floating above Killer Bee’s head…and he couldn’t move in enough time to stop what happened next. You stabbed your wakizashi into his forming chakra ball attack and touched your katana to a floating blade nearby you, letting the energy pass through your form, converting into lightning that shot in an arc from this katana to the next one down, in a spiral, each one became charged. You were gasping in torment. It hurt like a bitch to have that much power shoot through your form, and it was horribly difficult to prevent your ghostly body from absorbing that energy and flipping you back into a solid state where you'd be easily slain by the sheer influx of power. Thankfully, since you changed willingly earlier sans death, it wasn't as hard as you feared it might be, but it was still not easy. 

The katanas, all electrified now, would spark and fly true into their massive target like lancets of lightning from the heavens, one at a time, until the electricity had reached all the litter of metal buried into Killer Bee’s body. Plus he was submerged in water, doubling the conductivity. You had to get out of there in time and were damned lucky you managed to at all, having thrown yourself to that small island of debris, and it hurt…you couldn't hold your shape any longer and were now solidified and trembling involuntarily from the last lingering shocks of electricity.

The fireworks were incredible though; Killer Bee’s body was alight with electricity and it flashed through the water, setting it alight. You carefully avoided touching the water that was streamed around the base of one rock you sat upon, trying to push your body to its feet. His screams were earsplitting and constant, and the stench of roasting flesh was acrid and stomach turning. If onlookers hadn't shown up already, they would arrive by now witness the fight, but none had been stupid enough to try intervening. Even the more accomplished shinobi would be ripped to pieces if they got caught in the middle. 

The jutsu was wired to his chakra. You waited there, watching, then couldn’t resist any longer and burst out laughing. If Killer Bee severed the flow of chakra the moment he spotted your assault then you’d still be fighting. He’s gone and electrocuted himself! Brilliant! Talk about being hoisted on your own petard!  
“HAHAHAA!” You laid back, watching the sparks continue to fly until the orb was totally gone and his body fell slack into the water, steam and smoke floating up around him. Blood curled out in wisps where he floated miraculously face-up, which was fortunate, since you couldn't let him drown now. Hunks of charred meat sunk nearby him, and Bee was coated in a burnt substance with his body diminished to normal size.

“This settles it—I’m a GENIUS! Ahahahahaaaa..!” Hey, you could celebrate a little. It was well deserved after _that_ show. 

“HEEEY!” You addressed the frightened onlookers, and waved. “Fresh fried calamari! Come n’ get it!”

“YOU SICK BITCH!”  
“WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE?!”  
“YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!”

“Guess…not.” You shrugged and got up, trying not to wobble.

You looked back over at the crowd along the edges, and they were so angered and terrified by your presence and actions that the ninja amongst them were drawing out projectiles. By then, someone with a familiar gruff female voice shouted out from where she stood atop a shorter rock pinnacle.

“That’s enough! ALL OF YOU!”

You cocked an eyebrow. Megami? Had she been watching all this time?

A murmur ran through the crowd as their attention was drawn to her as well, but they quieted with her demand. Megami was not loved, but she was very much respected for her prowess as a kunoichi. And that can speak volumes more than anything. She made her way down to you and knelt next to the body upon the water. Apparently he wasn't so much 'floating', but a heap of fried flesh was sitting under his back, the water around him heavy with bijuu blood.

“That was a reckless stunt.” She said in a lowered voice, turning her head to address you over her shoulder.  
“Be that as it may, it worked out.” You answered.  
“You’ve owned up to your end of the bargain.” Megami went on to say. “As have I.”  
“Yeah. I know.” You figured she’d go on and leave. But that's not what happened.

“Except I wasn’t here earlier when you needed me. I’ll have to make up for that."

You raised an eyebrow. “I don’t swing that way, honey.”

“No no,“ She waved this away amusedly, then lifted up the cumbersome weight of Killer Bee’s unconscious body. “I’ll carry him for you. That’ll take me out of the country a good ways too.” Megs turned and eyed the angry people. “I’ve come to hate it here more than ever. The Raikage’s forced me into doing some things that turned me into one of their heroes.”

“That’s your business.” You said, remotely puzzled at her choice of wording. “For now, let’s go. We can’t trust them to sit there and scowl at us forever—the Raikage will be on his way undoubtedly.”

“I’ve stalled him.” Megami said offhandedly. “Don’t ask how.”

“I’m not interested.”

Both of you traveled as fast as possible out of the Cloud Country and on to safer lands with little difficulty. After that display of power, no one was about to stand in your way, and besides, they knew Megami wasn't to be trifled with either. She never originated from the Cloud and this 'betrayal' drove the point home for them...Megami had lived there for so long that they forgot she didn't belong. Although the journey was already proving to be tiresome. Time lapsed either too slowly or too quickly; and the conditions became rather oppressive from region to region. Be it a sprawling sun-baked flat or suffocating, humid wooded areas, there was worse to be encountered. The ANBU Black Ops were out in full force now, and the Raikage could possibly be on the move as well. Word had traveled quickly and the Cloud’s allies were also trying to capture you and recover their most esteemed jinchuuriki. After all; if there was to be another war ever again, a jinchuuriki would be required to tip the scales. And no nation wanted to go against a bijuu. 

You’d have to stop and rest plenty often, and Megami was taking note of your current condition. You were having a hard time, and sometimes would stumble around by accident. It was a sign of exhaustion and neither of you got a chance to sleep for three days so far with the ANBU constantly dogging you. Megs was traveling ahead a few paces even while carrying Killer Bee’s limp shape around. She stopped and you landed on a branch behind her, preparing to leap ahead, but halted when you noticed Megs wasn’t going any further.

“What?” You asked, breathing slightly hard.

“Saiya, this isn’t like you. Usually you can run ahead with ease.”

“I’m more of a sprinter?” You tried lamely. 

Her mouth gave a sardonic twist, and Megami and let the captive slump over that tree branch. “You need to rest.”

“Not here.” You rejected. “It’s not the greatest idea to let them pinpoint where we are and call in for backup. They won’t rush in headlong in this case, they'll want to be cautious.”

“Where then? They've got hounds and supersensory ANBU on our tail. We’ll be found no matter where we go. Are you that tired where you don’t care to kill a few people?”

“…” You went silent and sat down, back to the tree trunk you were situated upon. She was right. If worse came to worst, you’d have a slaughter on your hands. You had fought a jinchuuriki and struck off into a return trip immediately thereafter. It wasn’t so easy as she might pretend it to be. Even you had your limits, and this once, especially after what happened with Sasuke, you were still wearied after resting in Kumogakure once you made it there. It is a lot for one medic to do and Megami didn’t know all about your recent ordeals. Strangely, she was talkative now, and you were reminded of one thing; she would always need someone to pester, some reason to exist. Each person wants a reason to go on, even if it’s a temporary one until they find their ultimate goals. Your eyes flashed keenly in her direction as you took a drink of water while Meg’s back was turned, thinking that you would not let yourself be that person for her. Hopefully she still saw this as naught but business.

“He’s stirring.” Megami said to you through the forested quiet, and you closed your water bottle, put it away, and while your hand was in your pack, you fished around for two objects; a vial, and a needle.

“No matter.” You murmured back, now loading the syringe. It was a pale green liquid this time; a paralytic. Killer Bee wouldn’t be able to move as long as you kept him stacked up on it. 

“This isn’t the first you’ve had a hand in transporting a jinchuuriki I take it.” Megami observed coolly in her gruff voice, and you nodded once, heading over to them. You moved Bee’s head and he slapped a hand over your wrist instantly, but you were fast enough to inject him. Megami already had a kunai to his jugular before he could try anything more; he was disarmed of all weaponry anyhow. “Don’t bother trying it.” Megami warned the man, who still had his pince-nez shades on his nose, though they were cracked and a fragment of the left lens was missing in one corner.

Although, you had a turn in being surprised: a shuriken tore past and shattered the vial of fluid before you could finish injecting the entire amount. In that instance, before you had a chance to pull away a kunai had pinned your wrist to the bark of the tree. You stared at it, not exactly registering how you had fallen for this trap, and your eyes rolled to the side to see that another kunai and shuriken were nailed into a tree branch next to your ear, lined with a minute trickle of blood, and also stuck into the bark in front of your throat. Luckily that one had missed completely. 

Megami leapt down from the tree and eyed the pack of five ANBU that had slunk out of the shadows to stop you from drugging Killer Bee into a useless, drooling mess. Their leader hung back behind the others who were all battle ready, and he was considering the situation. You were temporarily incapacitated with that one wrist nailed against the tree, anyway. It would be a satisfactory advantage for now. Now all they had to concern themselves with for the most parts with Uchiha Megami here, whom they knew little about, considering that these fellows were actually from the Hidden Mist, judging from their masks. As long as Megami didn’t bother using her Sharingan, the fact that she is one of the few Uchiha to draw breath would remain a mystery. The question is, could she manage not using the Sharingan against ninja hunters? Megami has now sort of become a missing-ninja herself. These men could bag you both plus a highly coveted jinchuuriki and have themselves a nice promotion when they got home.

“It’s interesting.” You began quietly, almost idly, as if remarking upon the weather. “I hadn’t noticed you five before. Must’ve been following us for quite awhile now, we’ve gone to great lengths to avoid discovery.” You raised your free hand to wrench away that kunai through your other wrist in time for that one to be pegged against the tree as well. The pain was enough to make a tough old veteran grit their teeth, but you did not show any signs of anguish. 

No...you didn’t skip a beat.

“Actually,“ You went on to say, eyeing the kunai, and then turning your head back towards them again. “It _has_ been rather foggy this evening, hasn’t it?” On that note the flesh around those kunai appeared to decompose and compact; thinning, thinning…into nothing, warped into chakra now, having formed a smoking, cauterized hole in each arm by doing this. The metal hissed and began to soften and glow from being emerged in such black chakra. You were easily able to move your arms from the knives now, and as you began rubbing your wrists, the hideous black energy filling those two holes started to solidify. The men’s eyes widened behind their masks. Now your wrists were healed without the touch of a scar. Had you allowed them to do this to you? Or were you actually lethargic enough to not notice until it was too late?

Speaking of 'too late', you took out another syringe and stuck it into Killer Bee’s pulse alongside his jawline on the left side facing you, then pushed the small plunger down so the whole contents was in his bloodstream before they could pull the same stunt again. “There we are.” You stood up and habitually tightened your gloves, pulling at the hem of each. “I guess these pests will have sent word ahead.”

Megami agreed. “Likely.”

“No telling how much of a head start they’ve given their messenger either.” You said, and pulled out your wakizashi, spinning it over the back of your right hand ceaselessly so that it was a metallic blur. “I’m not going to toy with them much, Megami.” You didn’t afford her a glance when you said her name. “If you can't keep up then don’t bother trying. You’ll die with them.” Then, as an afterthought, “It really would be best for you to look after the prisoner. This is exactly the kind of wake up call I need.”

This elicited a scowl from the Uchiha woman, her proud blood simmering within her veins. You had to smirk at that, turning towards the men, and reached up to unzip your hooded short-sleeve Gyaku clan top. Beneath it was nothing but fishnet, and they were granted a momentary view of cleavage. Nothing too gratuitous. It was only enough to expose the flesh where your heart is, and with your free hand, you gripped the left of the hoodie to pull it open wider over the precise location. The moon illuminated your skin beneath royal purple wide-woven fishnet in a pale, smooth sheen. Megami’s furor was swapped now for minor confusion; you weren’t planning on giving them a show, were you? 

Apparently the men were caught off guards as well while Uchiha was fast to regain her composure. You had to admire that about her; but Itachi wouldn’t have flinched. He is perhaps the most unmovable person when fighting, and you missed him so.

 _’It’s been a real long while since I saw him.’_ You said, and raised the wakizashi up, angling the point towards the exposed area of your chest, which rose and fell regularly and without fear.

_’So there isn’t a second to waste.’_

You thrust the blade into your own heart and slumped, but your body momentarily faded out of sight once blood had dribbled down the swell of your breast that they could see. Heads turned this way and that, seeking for the enemy they had lost without blinking an eye behind those masks.  
But then, it never takes much, does it?

Like now, when you materialized behind their captain as a ghost with bandages wrapped only around her chest crosswise, bandages which were torn and trailing like a revenant’s, with your hair longer than normal and flowing weightlessly as if it were in water. Ethereal eyes that shone evil bore down into the man and you placed one palm flat against his back, then sunk your translucent hand into his body and began leeching out his life energy. His clothes burnt, even the chest plate he wore began to smolder and melt in a hole and scream after gut-wrenching scream frightened the crickets away. Color bled from his skin until he was deathly pale in the sparse places you could see it, a sharp contrast with the dark garb he wore as an ANBU. His comrades made to strike at you since you automatically claimed the highest threat, but their attacks were meaningless. It is impossible to hurt a ghost unless one knows how. 

Blood seeped out in a warm wave, spreading from the hole in his chest which was now a short tunnel from his back to his front and he was already dead, his chakra entirely absorbed. You dropped him and turned to the men who had blundered around at you during this, even tried to pull their captain away, but again it was a fruitless attempt. You had the wakizashi in one hand, now floating towards the ANBU as Megami choked on her pride nearby and listened when you asked her to stay put. After seeing _that_ she had little use in arguing. 

__You drawled in your disembodied voice, _"By all means, gentleman. Struggle to add another moment to your brief lives. But linger too long, and I might decide to draw out your suffering."_

 _’This ghost is different.’_ Megami thought. _’Its shape is not quite the same. And this time she had to suicide herself to change into it.’_

You had wheeled on the nearest ANBU as he charged up a wind type move and your wakizashi met his wrists before he could complete the hand seals. He let out a bellow of agony when his hands, still folded together in the symbol of the Monkey fell down to the ground, pulling apart just then. When he was reeling in pain you pushed your hand through him and began draining out his chakra as well. The other ANBU moved to run at Megami, you slung three long bandage-tendrils out at them and the tendrils wrapped one of their ankles each. They were halted straight away and collapsed backwards like a dog that has charged to the end of its leash. 

_’This ghost form has another set of abilities.’_ Megs analyzed shrewdly. _'Exactly how many types are there?'_

Another man went down after the previous while she examined. One guy, the last one you rounded upon, had his ankle burnt so severely it was down to charred bone and he was writhing like a worm on a hook. You dug an unyielding ghost arm into him and tugged out every last bit of his chakra before turning to Megami, rose up and coasted over to her.  
__

She nodded once and hefted Killer Bee’s body against a shoulder. You traveled along while invisible but would pop up on occasion to let Meg know you were still nearby. It was a bit spooky to see a woman show up out of nowhere like that in the deepest, darkest places of the woodlands when traveling through them, or some glow-eyed specter flitting in and out of a dreamlike state along the high side of a ravine under the moonlight.

The other ANBU never caught up now that you weren’t lagging behind and Megami didn’t have to concern herself with possibly losing you. The sun was rising and it was her turn to be tired. But when she stopped at the side of a winding brook to set Killer Bee down, the one that caught up with her was not a ghost, but a perfectly healthy woman. She was startled but knew it to be you.  
“Did you catch more of them?” She asked.

“No.” You didn’t elaborate, and she didn’t inquire after it. 

“I’m resting.”  
“Whatever.” You knelt down and watched the water murmur around its stony bed. 

“How close are we?” Megami asked before going to the water herself and scooped some into her hands. She splashed her face and did this a few times. You decided it was a good idea and copied her example. The water was fresh, ice cold, and invigorating. 

“A ways to go still.” You answered mildly, now pausing to check your reflection. You didn’t look so bad considering the things you’d gone through, and now that you ‘abused’ your ability to automatically heal while dead you felt great anyway with no injuries at all and far less fatigue than you’d been left with before. “Don’t forget that we’ve been traveling for only one night.”

“Feels longer than that.”

“If that’s the case then I guess the rest of this is going to feel like a year's gone by.”

“You haven’t been back with your Akatsuki friends for quite awhile have you?”

You didn’t really need to answer that. It was pretty rhetorical.  
But one thing was for certain; Megami was starting to ask annoying questions and you were all the more considering killing her when she finished carrying Killer Bee to a place nearby HQ. But you’d stay your hand when you considered how Itachi might react to that. You wouldn’t hide it from him after all. And now you knew he wasn’t a warmonger, he didn’t hate his country and he didn’t exactly loathe his family. Megami is related to him whether he knew her or not. The Uchiha clan could use all the help it could get to be rebuilt on new values. 

Sadly this woman had to live and you had to live _with_ her through this very very long journey. And with pursuers likely to happen across your path at any time, you had to take a more complicated route to your destination, which added three days at least on to the growing total. With nothing to do but travel; the hours crawled by.But as your both drew inevitably nearer to headquarters, it dawned on you. Madara might want Megami dead and while she was an irritant, she was useful to you and has given no _real_ reason to let her perish lightly. It would be stupid to lead her too close to Akatsuki if there was any possibility that Madara didn’t know about her, and Sasuke would be a possible danger too, depending on how thoroughly Madara thought he had control over him. ‘Control’ is something Madara is terrific at. He’d been influencing lives in such a way that Itachi could say he learned from the best during the time he'd been manipulated _by_ Madara.

“Megami.”  
“Hm?”

“Akatsuki’s coordinates are to remain a secret.” You deadpanned. “I appreciate your help but this is as far as I need you to go. There should be a contact point for me to reach nearby. I’ll be fine on my own from here.”

Megami was relieved but guardedly optimistic that she’d been freed from her burden; not as though she was about to complain but carrying around a grown-ass man for _days_ got old quick. “You’re sure?”

“Yeah.” You took out another needle, filled the reservoir and injected the captive with it. He’d been unable to move under his own will ever since his downfall. You made certain it’d stay this way. “You told me you’d help with his burden, and you did. It’s two more day’s journey to where I need to be if I can’t catch someone at the contact point.” You turned towards Megami, then averted your gaze to the setting sun. “You have some sunlight to travel by to make it to the nearest town before nightfall. I think we can safely say that you’re well away from the Cloud. But, ah…your hitai-ate.” You tapped your own on your forehead. “You might want to hide it. The less attention you draw to yourself, the better.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Meg snapped. “I’ve been on the run too, you know!”

“I’m not saying you don’t _know_ , I’m simply reminding you. Don’t get your panties in a wad. Damn.”

“Hmph.” She gave a derisive snort and turned away.

“Although I know you really didn’t ‘run away’ like I did. Not until now.” You began. “You were abducted by the opposite side during the last great war.” You smirked. “Running away from your enemies doesn’t count as being a missing-ninja, you know. Technically you’ve done nothing wrong against Konohagakure and you’ve become liked in Kumogakure, though suffice it to say _that_ bridge was burnt days ago." You turned and knelt down, grabbing Killer Bee by one arm. “Uchiha Megami, you are the opposite of a person like me.”

“Yeah, Saiya. I know.”

It was good she didn’t both arguing the point. It was needless.  
“Watch yourself.”  
“Yeah. You too.” She turned to go, and you hesitated, but chose to blurt it out anyway. "Megami."  
She paused and pivoted to look back. "What?"  
"If you absolutely cannot find a place to go, seek out Hyuuga Tatsuo. He can help you get in touch with my people; they're aiming to build a new headquarters. You would be..." You hesitated, then spat it out. "...You'd be welcome amongst them. And I wouldn't say no to that."

Megami gave a brief nod, her mouth pulling tight at one corner in a restrained smile, gave a brief wave and finally left. You went as well, moving Killer Bee to a more discreet location. Secretly you respected Megami’s strength and endurance. She was able to haul this lug around like nothing, but your height was practically all that was needed to defeat you where Meg succeeded. Killer Bee was a very tall fellow and you were under average height for a female. By comparison, Megami was a mobile skyscraper.

After getting this guy to a hidden place you sat down and concentrated on making up an astral projection in the Akatsuki HQ. You placed this image in Pein’s usual room. He was luckily there, speaking to Konan. She looked to be giving a report and both were startled when a dark shape thinly etched in rainbow color appeared with your eyes. 

“Saiya?!” Konan exclaimed. “What’s happened?! Where have you _been_ all this time!?” Pein eyed you sternly without the questions but you knew he wondered as to the answers. 

“I’ve got a present for you.” You said, voice distorted. “I’m two days journey from here. 

“Where?” Pein inquired coldly. You got the impression he was supermely irked that you hadn’t reported a damned thing for clear over a month and the Sasuke catastrophe (which was rather televised at the end of it) had ended weeks ago, for a grand total of the whole ordeal spanning about two months.

“Cave behind the western waterfall.” You responded.

“That’s only a few miles away from Konoha’s borders, you can’t stay there.” Konan said.

“That’s going to be a problem. You see, this ‘present’ is kind of….well…you know…big. For me.”

 

Suffice it to say, they were both utterly bewildered.


	36. A Treacherous Orange

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Killer Bee's Eight Tailed Demon is sealed away in short order, and your blatant disrespect towards Madara reaches new heights.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rhig: O_O So, is anyone else wired on easter candy? SUGARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR OMG

A Treacherous Orange

 

It was five odd hours later when help arrived. By then you’d drained as much free energy as you could hold since you knew what was to come. The ones who came to assist you made you grin however. It was Itachi and Kisame, and latter practically beamed when he saw you. 

“Hey!!!” You called, hopping up from where you’d been checking Killer’s pulse. 

“Yo!” Kisame shouted back over the roar of crashing water, as they walked over from the entrance behind the falls. He glanced you over and snorted. “You look like hell.”

“Thanks.” You rolled your eyes, and both of them moved around you, stepping deeper into the shade of the cavern to look down at the unconscious man. There was barely light enough to see his features, with only a scant bit filtering in through the ingress. “Who’s this now?”

“The Eight-Tailed.” You said. Itachi’s black stare flickered away, silently condemning your actions. How foolish had it been for the medic to run off on her own? More to the point, he was a touch upset that you went and did this at all, medic or not. He knew how strong this guy was; he’d heard about it plenty. His style of fighting is very hard to go against unless one knows precisely _how_ , or possesses a Sharingan. Normal eyes can’t decode the most intricate movements at breakneck speed like the Sharingan can. 

“How’d you get him this far?” Kisame asked, frowning at the body.   
“I had help.” You said. “Remember; I had that other mission. Uchiha Sasuke captured and put my own subordinates to work. It’s been forever since I’ve seen them, but they weren't any less loyal.” Soon as the words parted your throat, you wondered a touch guiltily if you should tell Itachi about Megami because you weren't being forthright with him. But Kisame's here too, and _he_ was no longer trustworthy. What'd been said was not strictly a lie. Megami was a contact of yours for years now, but she also stipulated that she wasn't on your payroll, which freed her from further obligations. And you had indeed made contact with your group, so that part was correct also.

Kisame didn’t respond but knelt down to have a closer look. Killer Bee had some nasty injuries hidden under swathes of stained bandages. Only the vital points had been spared so he could survive, and he was obviously heavily medicated.  
Whilst Kisame was figuring out how to pick this guy up without further aggravating his wounds, Itachi turned you around and kissed you on the lips once, not too long, while Kisame’s back was turned. You kissed him back and began to place a hand on his side, only to push apart quickly when Kisame stood up to turn around and address you, only to see you both were exactly as before, equal distance apart and everything. He didn’t know a thing; its not as though you smooched _loudly_. And you didn’t get to enjoy it much either. Itachi had been a little rough about it, almost begrudgingly really. More of an, 'I'm irritated but I missed you' kiss.

“How the hell do I go about this, eh?”

“Doesn’t matter.” You said, not at all sheepish about ‘almost’ getting caught. “I had to bind several wounds so he won’t bleed to death, but do it however you want.”  
Kisame grumbled. “Great way to answer nothing.”

You blinked big eyes and pouted. “But I _did_ answer.”

“ANBU are close by.” Itachi observed quietly, though his tone was a bit sharp. He might be glad you're back safe, but that didn't curb his annoyance. You concealed a wince...he was ticked, alright. “We best be on our way.”  
“Yeah.” You muttered. “Pein-sensei is royally pissed off at me as it is. I could tell.” It was a poorly veiled double meaning, directed more at Itachi rather than being about Pein. 

“Don’t think he’ll be as mad when he sees this guy, heheheh.” Kisame said, chuckling. Then he hefted the body up and wasn’t laughing so much. “Ugh, what a fatass!”

“No kidding. Lugging that bastard around was unbearable, I'm amazed I managed to avoid detection." And with that, the group set out. The journey was going to be over the course of a few hours again, but no trail lingered for the ANBU to follow. You didn’t realize how close those people were to catching up with you again, and there was no telling who could be with them if they were from the Hidden Leaf. Unlike other nations, the Leaf wasn’t stupid. They knew the kind of manpower was required and understood what they needed to do _when_ they needed to do it. You were loathe to admit this; but Konoha did possess some of the most formidable shinobi in the ninja world today.

Kisame would berate you with questions on the way through the forest. But you were in no mood to answer them; especially with Itachi so near, all you could think about was taking a shower and spending time with him no matter how cross he was with you. Though sadly, as you focused on the way ahead and pretended you didn’t hear Kisame, Itachi brought up a very valid point.

“We will have to prepare to do the Ten Phantom Dragons ritual when we return.” He said, his voice regulated to a cool, collected tone as usual. He wasn't acting frigid at least but it could change.

“Oh, yeah.” Kisame grunted. “Leader’ll wanna get that done right away.”

“Oh…” You began, and seemed let down. "Great. And here I wanted a chance to relax. I’ve been on the move almost nonstop since my mission with Sasuke.”

“Yeah, but no one asked you to go and get this guy. Being the medic, you’re exempt from having to catch a jinchuuriki.” Kisame pointed out. 

“I know,” You muttered under your breath. “I know.”

“So you going to answer me? Why’d you bother?”

“The short version is: because I could.” You said. “I don’t need much more reason than that. Besides. Whose turn is it now? Sasori?” You scoffed. “Sasori isn’t a featherweight, but with all due honesty, I’m not confident that he could’ve withstood an assault from that guy without getting poked full of holes. His puppets can only hold up against so much, and frankly, he's lost his edge now that he's human.”

“Don’t doubt him. It’ll get you killed.”

“Killed?” You turned to Kisame, incredulous. “Interesting. Have you so little faith in me?”

Kisame at this point said nothing. Either you cut directly to the core of it, that he didn't believe in your strength, or he didn’t know what to say anymore. Some people just can’t get around a medic being a medic. They get stuck on that one fact; that a healer type ninja shouldn’t fight. This was the very mentality that had embittered you for years. And you didn’t know what was worse; that Kisame was having this conversation with you _period_ …or that you had become so consumed by your Ghost Aspect that you laughed at death. Additionally you were beginning to do what countless others before you had tried to do: become immortal. It shouldn’t be possible. But after you met Hidan you understood that it _is_. Another example: Pein-sensei and Konan; both amazingly preserved their youth… _how_ was a mystery to you. Uchiha Madara, should be dead or ancient and decrepit, but is not as far as you could tell. Equally, the three Sannin had their ways to dash away those wrinkles and prevent themselves from becoming creaky and broken down in places. 

 

“Killed...” You muttered loudly enough to be heard. “I think by now, Kisame, I’ve done enough to prove that I would not be killed by Sasori, if nothing else because…” You trailed off thoughtfully. You were pretty sure that no one except Itachi and recently Deidara knew what really happened back in Anarchy. 

“Because?” Kisame prodded.

You shut your mouth and sprang ahead of them both. 

“Hey!”

“Let her be.” Itachi advised.  
“…”

You plowed far ahead and didn’t care if you left tracks for others to follow. The two behind you were allies, they weren’t about to turn on you. Kisame might be a bit weird these days, but hell, what did the rest of Akatsuki think when they heard the screams? You had developed a peculiar habit of taking up prisoners and torturing them for no particular reason that anyone could see. Itachi understood why you’d be doing that in the beginning, but otherwise he was equally baffled. 

“She’s not the same as she used to be.” Kisame grunted to Itachi. “Ya know how she was when we first met her.”

“Much has happened.” Was the Uchiha’s sage explanation. “Saiya has been through things that others would not survive with their minds intact. It only makes sense that she would—“

“—Crack?”

“Not what I would have gone with.” Itachi answered, bounding over another dense branch. Itachi was thinking of the genjutsu and telepathy training. He has Tsukiyomi’d you on several occasions. Most people don’t survive _one_ Tsukiyomi. Admittedly he had been gentle with it during the training but that is still a devastating attack. But no one knew about such training unless you had informed Pein, which, Itachi wasn’t sure if you had. 

You were nowhere in sight, despite this, neither of them were concerned. They’d meet up with you at HQ hidden deep in this forest, set back from the stream nearby through the center of the forest. You were walking down the halls a little while before they entered and had gone to find Pein. But he was not the one you came across at first. It was Deidara. He was surprised to see you and you caught the typical lopsided grin you used to get from him before the whole mess with Sasori. This happy expression was traded for one raised eyebrow.

“Been gone awhile, un.”

“Yeah.”

“We didn’t think it’d take so long, hm.”

“Things got complicated. I made a side-trip. Have you seen Pein-sensei or Konan?”

“Konan’s asleep in the living room, un.” He offered. Deidara was being civil now but it was a struggle to maintain old relations with him; he used to pester you constantly and was all smiles. Later that changed for aggression. And now he was grinning again. With this firmly in mind you figured it must be hard for Deidara to keep a straight face nowadays due to how things had been for so long. Congeniality might not necessarily be his first impulse. 

“Thanks….Mango-kun.” You walked around him and headed to the living area. There was Konan as prescribed, surrounded by scrolls and report folders.   
“She turned the room into her office for the past three days, un.” Deidara voiced from behind you, his tone slightly deepened in thought. You reached out and waved a hand over Konan’s face. One of her hands flew up to snatch your wrist and you attempted a smile. “I knew you weren’t asleep.”

“How could you tell, un?” Deidara wasn’t great with that kind of thing. Really.

“Her breathing.”

“Welcome back Saiya.” Konan said, sitting up and picking up the partially uncurled scroll she had in her lap. She rolled it up and set it down on the long table set between the couches. Apparently the servants rearranged the living area since you left. “You mentioned having a present for Pein?”

“I did. And I do.”

“Where is it?”

“Kisame has ‘it’. Was a bit too big for me to carry around.”

“You seem tired.”

“I’ve had a long haul.”

Konan examined your face solemnly, then got up and moved the last of her paperwork onto the coffee table. She reached down and tapped the dowel of a scroll open underneath the whole mess of paper and with one hand and made the seal of focus. A ‘poof!’ later, the mountain of paperwork was reduced to one wide scroll about four inches long. She picked it up and stowed it somewhere within her Akatsuki mantle, then walked around the couch. She was still a bit disheveled. Random strands of hair were sticking up out of her up-do’, and her usual origami rose was cockeyed.   
“I’ll get Pein.”

“Kay’. Should we head downstairs?”

“What? Why?” 

They were still unawares of what the ‘present’ was. It was going to be hard to hide that now though because the ritual takes up plenty of space, and everyone would need to be gathered round’ the God of Hell statue in a really large room. 

“I told you. It's big.”

“Ah.” She was puzzled, but played along and didn’t inquire after further details. You must want to keep it under your hat for as long as possible, or you’d have spilled by now. “Why not bring it to the main training room? Would that be large enough?”   
You thought back to the first time you entered that room—it was very close to when you began here and was directly after you finished your first assignment. “Yes. That’ll do.” 

At this Konan went off and you did too. Deidara continued to follow. “What is this thing you’re talking about, un?”

“My gift for Pein-sensei, Nosey Mango-kun.”

“…” At the addition of ‘Nosey’ he gave up and you kept going on to find Kisame and Itachi. Your mind sought theirs, and you found them with relative ease in the hallways heading towards you; rather convenient that was. “If you’d carry him a bit further Blueberry-kun, follow me.”

Kisame didn’t complain. He obliged since it wouldn't be much longer now before he got to drop this stupid lug on his skull, but after that would be the sealing jutsu. No one was going to move for some time during the ritual. And the (ahem,) ‘master of ceremonies’ arrived now, Konan following nearby him. “What is it then Saiya?” He asked resignedly. Pein must’ve been enduring a few ordeals of his own. Kisame moved forth to stand next to you and you motioned to the limp fellow over his shoulder.

“I caught the Eight-Tailed!” You exclaimed with a most lively grin, and upon noticing Tobi walking up as well…and seeing him halt dead in his tracks, your grin mutated into a feral smirk.

“Am I a good girl?” It was a mockery of Tobi's former self commentary. Anybody who knew him would recognize it.

Itachi caught himself automatically thinking, _’I hope not.’_

While Madara was absolutely floored, Pein remained calm but nodded in approval. Except he didn’t stop moving. He motioned everyone present into the training room and gave a mental announcement for the others to assemble. You hung back before entering the room and Madara drew level. “Report. Quickly.”

You looked at him over your shoulder then turned to face him. He stopped and faced you also and rather than giving a report, you flicked him in the forehead of his mask. “Piss. Off.” The ground was rumbling and the statue had apparently been summoned. You went to the left little finger and jumped up to it. At this show of disrespect Madara glowered a hole through your back, but Sasori had taken up the finger both of them could use. Madara would be the one to see that no enemies got through. While that shouldn’t be a concern whatsoever considering that this was to take place in the lair itself, there simply wasn’t enough fingers for everyone. 

“Saiya are you certain you should be doing this right now?” Konan inquired pointedly, her eyes following the masked man out of the room. 

“I already drew in plenty of energy while I was waiting for Itachi and Kisame.” You answered, not bothered. “Also, I started this. I’ll see it through.” 

The others arrived in solid form. No one was on missions aside from Sasori and Deidara and you, but those two had been in and out when you left as well, looking for Sasori’s jinchuuriki. It was clear why they had no luck catching him. You did it for them. But it was not your quota to fill in the first place. Medics don’t go bijuu hunting; the others are supposed to. Ideally, anyway.

“He’s pretty messed up, un.”

“It was a bit difficult not to overdo it.” You answered almost meekly, looking from the head of the statue down to the body. Despite having many wounds healed to stop the bleeding, Killer Bee still appeared to of run headlong through a slaughterhouse meat grinder. His pristine white Cloud-ninja uniform was tattered and blotched with dried blood and much of the cloth was fused to his skin, burnt at the edges of every ragged hole in his clothing, as well as at the hems. His sunglasses were partially melted as well, and the lenses were fractured. Even his bandages didn't look so clean anymore, with aging stains seeping through. You weren't really able to sit long enough to heal his injuries while traveling, and when you _were_ able to stop for a rest, you were too exhausted to bother. 

“But, eh, what can you do…when you've been poked full of metal and relentlessly electrocuted, you’d probably be in rough shape too.”

“Eh?!”

“Yeaaah, I kind of made him electrocute himself. He was too slow and stupid to realize what was going on and stop it from happening. Apparently.” You had sighed, with the air of someone who could shrug it off easily as a ‘shit happens’ sort of thing. “Fried calamari for dinner, guys.”

Insert slightly blue-around-the-gills expressions and stifled gagging noises here.

Pein had finished preparing the jutsu and began to cast it. He didn’t need to instruct the group to be extra careful with the body; upon looking at him, it was quite obvious that caution must be exercised. 

This would take quite awhile too. The body was lifted into the air, belly-up, when the dragon heads issued from the now-opened maw of the statue. Before long the demon within was tapped, and then finally, its chakra began to stream from Killer Bee’s eyes and mouth. He gurgled a little in the process, since it isn’t exactly a great sensation from the looks of it; rather, it kills the host upon completion.

 

_During That Time…_

Madara had watched for a little while before headed on out himself. He was more than upset with you for that show of attitude earlier right in his face. But he didn’t know where Sasuke was and couldn’t contact him. For now he had gone around the lair and decided to go sneak around and see what he could learn, if anything. So Madara went to your room and looked in.

Honestly he doubted there'd be anything here at. You hadn’t been to your room since before the mission and there wasn’t much laying around that looked like it’d be important. That hope aside; he also realized you were very cautious. Whilst he knew about your subordinates, he also understood that you would _not_ keep their reports and findings hanging around in the open, even in your private quarters. He saw aromatherapy oils that could be used to set up vaporous traps, and saw pre-prepared senbon in bundles of fifty each, three stacks in a row, so there was a square bunch of nine. There were bottles resting on the desk area as well, which resembled a miniscule working laboratory in the corner of your room. There were scrolls in the desk that, when opened, were blank…and beside them was ink and brushes and some cord used to tie up the scrolls. He sighed, staring with one red eye around the room.

Nothing obvious in here unless he was overlooking something. But when it comes to shinobi that is extremely possible. The tiniest detail could explain much. 

But Madara had no idea and finally left the room, closing the door. He's an exceptional ninja himself with tremendous powers of observation, but even he couldn't detect anything suspicious here. He would have to come back periodically, as would others.

Next thought he had was to see if he could find Sasuke and see what befell him, but it would be a bit of a trip to the Sound Country. His thoughts and footsteps took him right by the living area where the television was on, a couple of servants taking their break and lounging on the couches while unsupervised. He paused and looked up. None of them noticed. They were sitting with their backs in his direction, eyes glued to the television.   
But they were watching the news, which was all about Konoha right now and how they had finally finished cleaning up the Uchiha Cemetery after an ‘assault’ upon it, where all the Uchiha clansmen had been revived as zombies by a woman whom they suspected to be Gyaku Saiya. She had been working with Uchiha Sasuke and three others whose names were not yet confirmed, and that the four of them were in custody at Konoha General Hospital in the Intensive Care Unit being treated for many severe bite and laceration wounds. The doctor in charge of the four patients has just released today that they are also critically poisoned and are not expected to survive the week. 

Beyond that the news anchor added that they had to go to a commercial break but would return shortly with more news about the previous story, which had to do with the other attack…the one on the Village Hidden in the Clouds.

To this Madara stared, nearly aghast, as did the servants who had yet to take note of his presence. Apparently you had been busier than he realized and now he understood what took so long. But Madara did not know yet about how bad off it was in the Sound, either. Sasuke’s own base of operations was now useless unless they got a HAZMAT team in there. 

With this knowledge it looked bleak. He wouldn’t be able to have a word with Sasuke if he lay dying in Konoha. And Sasuke was a key part of his plans. This was going to be a big problem, he’d need to get into the Leaf and figure out how bad off Sasuke at least was. He was more vital than Suigetsu, Jugo and Karin, by comparison their fate was immaterial.  
But on the other hand, Konoha has Tsunade, and her pupil had figured out how to take apart Sasori’s poison. It could be possible that they’d do the same with yours, but they'd have to play for time and try to alleviate the symptoms long enough to hack it.

He walked away and headed back to where everyone else was at the statue. There was quite some time left on the ritual. While you weren’t able to contribute the amount of energy you had once before out of sheer exhaustion you nevertheless gave a lot into it, and Kisame gave more than you did because this once he wasn’t going to be needed to go and intercept enemies. Madara was free for that and if there was one thing he’s good at, it’s stalling for time merely by baffling the opponents with his weird ability to ‘erase’ his body. 

So Madara watched over the ritual for now, arms crossed, leaning in the door. The huge glowbubble engulfing Killer Bee reflected sallow blue light against the weapons racked upon the walls. The lights were not on in here, but the chakra flow provided plenty of illumination. Everyone appeared more dangerous than usual; being enshrouded in black and red with that phantasmal glow washing everything in a cool, sinister luster. 

There would be at the very least _hours_ yet to go. Might be a full 24 hour span, or longer, going up to a matter of days like it always had in the past. And in the meantime, Madara had questions that needed answering and also Sasuke was upon the throes of death. He needed him for his plans to move ahead now that the opportunity to use Sasuke had presented itself.

It looked like he’d have little choice but to trust in Sasuke’s ability to come out on the other side of a nasty situation, and hope that Tsunade would treat him. If nothing else she could buy Sasuke some time. They should have a sample of poison you’ve used before to go by, so if Lady Luck was on their side, Sasuke, Karin, Jugo and Suigetsu were about to be set on the road to recovery.

_\+ Heheheh…+_ A woman’s voice in his head, snickering softly. Madara stiffened where he rested against one shoulder to the door frame, and his red eye flickered towards you. You hadn’t moved from that spot. You were standing in concentration with the others atop stone fingertips. But there was no doubt about it; it was your voice he heard in his mind.  
 _+It’s useless. Your beloved Sasuke won’t live through that.+_

Tobi could easily respond, but in his agitation he couldn’t contain it from being heard should anyone else be listening. Of everyone, Pein, Itachi and Konan could readily listen in.

_/Who do you think you are? I gave you a direct order./_ Despite his anger he’d remain composed. So did you.

_+Oh, but I_ did _follow orders. I went to Sasuke. I didn’t find a jinchuuriki like you wanted. Even you were lied to Madara, and you were too blind to notice.+_ Those listening felt the sneer rather than saw it. _+You’ve grown pathetic in your old age. Maybe you ought to do the same as Sasuke…lay down and die.+_

 

_/Hold your tongue before I cut it out, little girl./_

_+Aahah! We’ve got a live one.+_ You laughed. _+I like that…keep it, because you’ll need that anger one day. Don’t worry Madara, your pet might still survive. That is to say, only if he’s more like Orochimaru than I thought.+_ You were deliberately not offering the absolute truth. There was more to what happened that eventide, and you'd prefer for Madara to receive the news secondhand. 

A pause. _/What?/_

They got the impression that you sighed mockingly. _+As I’ve said, too weak and blind. I am not about to elaborate.+_

_/Give me the antidote./_

_+Would you actually trust me to give you the right one, not just another poison? Assuming that I made one to begin with?+_

Madara was quiet at that. That could be a bluff but it wasn't all that dangerous to call; if Sasuke is about to die anyway, what's the harm in poisoning him worse than what he's already suffering from? 

_+I’m waiting.+_ You goaded.

_/Make no mistake about it Gyaku. You have no choice but to give the right one./_

_+That isn’t a good way to avoid the question.+_ You pointed out. _+But tell you what. I'll extend some professional courtesy and say what you need to hear: the poison does not have an antidote. It’s something I concocted on the spot when the opportunity arose, late at night, next to a candle that barely lit the room. However, the components I used lean towards the kind of toxin that makes them writhe in agony until their death. By now, it will have attacked the nervous system and should be targeting the chakra pipelines throughout the body.+_ Again, they felt that you had given a cruel smirk. Itachi was keeping to himself, but this is his brother you're talking about. So why is it that he didn't feel overly concerned? He never stopped caring, but something was off about this whole situation.

_+Enough time passes and those four won’t be able to focus enough chakra to save themselves, and that’s assuming that they can live through the pain of their bodies slowly being broken down from the inside out. I'd guess that in the end, their guts will be liquefied and the next person that touches their deconditioned skin will break em' open like a wet paper bag.+_ Beyond this non-verbal conversation you tilted your head a bit to the left, just by a fraction.

_+So, Madara. Aren't you going to run to their rescue? If you hurry, you might make it there before it's 'light's out' permanently. Because I'm not bringing any of them back. Hurts, doesn't it? +_

_/I’m not the one poisoned./_ He ignored the other nonsense. 

_+Or are you?+_

_/Stop attempting to play mind games, little girl. You are out of your depth./_ Madara turned from the room and headed into the halls. When he was far away, Konan spoke up.

_:What did you mean that he’s the one poisoned?:_

__

_-If only you had done so.-_ Pein remarked blandly.

_+Hmmm, I wonder about that.+_

No one said anything else. But you were getting really antsy standing here, so you made a few handseals and struck the tip of a middle finger across the hard white edges of your teeth. The skin was torn and blood beaded up. You drew a symbol on the palm of your right hand, then thrust that palm outwards in the direction of Killer Bee’s floating body, your left hand back in the sign of focus.

A flash broke loose through the room at the motion and you reopened your eyes. In the instance of the outburst, all colors were opposite of themselves; black was white, so on.   
Killer Bee spazzed and writhed midair while the energy issuing out of his mouth and eyes formed into claws and pulled a long body out of his mouth, as though sloughing off a cocoon. The body was a thin tail at its end which was still inside Killer Bee’s mouth, but the body itself tripled in size, taking the form of the octopus monster. Before it could solidify the God of Hell statue drained it in and one more eyeball opened wide.

Bee’s corpse hit the floor hard against his neck and shoulders with a sick ‘CRACK’, the rest of his heavy, muscle-bound body flumping down not a split moment later. The mouth of the statue closed, metal bit once again in place. And you lowered your hands, but not before the others caught sight of the blood-painted character on the palm of your hand.

‘Purge’. 

At the collective stare, you shrugged and hopped off the little finger to the floor, landing neat as a pin and began walking without missing a beat. “Got impatient.” You waved over a shoulder casually with one bloodied hand, departing from the room. “Later.” And taking the corner in stride, you were gone from sight.

Though none of them said anything, they exchanged bewildered stares around and got off the statue too. They wondered if they had to wait for a bit to confirm that the bijuu was in fact where they meant to place it; inside that statue’s sealing mechanism. Pein banished the hulking stone and metal form away and also made to leave. He reached the door before the others, then paused in the doorway, turned his head to regard them with one ringed eye over the edge of his collar.

“Now is a good opportunity.” He said in his powerful voice, a sound that carried effortlessly to every set of ears. “For a test.”  
Itachi, Hidan, Kakuzu, Deidara, Sasori, Kisame and Konan blinked one after another (it seemed). Of all times it was going to be now for the ‘assessment’ that never was finished in Anarchy. 

Shit happens.

 

_Later, With You…_

 

You’d gone to your room and disengaged yourself from your clothing fast as your flying fingers would permit, and made a grab for the shower knob once you stepped into the stall, stark naked. You might’ve looked like a mad woman clawing your things off onto the floor moments ago but you didn’t care; no one was there to see. And if they were, and if it was not Itachi, you might’ve clawed their eyes out instead of the clothes so you could shower without being seen, because, quite honestly, you were in no mood to be tangled with. The exchange with Tobi...Madara...Whoever-The-Fuck-He-Really-Is left you in a bitter frame of mind.

But as it always tends to, the raining water blotted out darker thoughts and feelings and you closed your eyes, tilting your face upwards into the stream. It was cool for a moment before heating up and you almost gave a little jump at the initial icy shock. You envisioned the day that Itachi sneaked into the shower after you. What an encounter that had been; and there had been absolutely nothing stopping him from entering you at that moment. Nothing but his urge to taunt you, because he could’ve had his way then, however he pleased, for as long as he wished, and you would not have found it in yourself to protest. 

A faltering smile flitted across your lips, once, twice, then finally you came to your senses and blindly grasped a bottle, the familiar shape told you that it was the shampoo.   
But after making slow work of cleaning up, you sat in the cramped shower stall and hugged your knees with now lukewarm water raining down. 

Here at least, you could think undisturbed.

After the water ran numbingly cold you turned it off, wringing excess water out of your hair before exiting the stall and then patted yourself dry, looking past any scars as usual.   
You knew the stories behind each one. There were those from various missions and skirmishes, but many were also from training with Pein. He could have been described as utterly, needlessly brutal from the start. There was not a single wasted movement. You learned the hard way how one is to battle him, and you hoped that it would never come to the decision of fighting against him or alongside him.  
But…oh yes…the thought had crossed your mind. What if he was manipulating you as well? And then Itachi, whom had done so well to control his brother’s actions, and not just his, but others? And Madara, not much different in that sense. He had a grudge to fulfill. Madara had a _lot_ to answer for.   
But for fuck’s sake, with all that you wielded, it remained impossible to know where _exactly_ you stood amongst this…this… _pantheon_ of s-class rogue ninja. How is it possible not to be used? Even if you thought you were the us _er_ at times?

While you stood dressed only in bra and panties (peacock green accentuated with black lace) with a white towel carelessly hanging over your head, you perused your wardrobe, eyes continuing to stray to the bed which is where only one garment had landed as you disrobed earlier; the trademark Akatsuki cloak.

Had Akatsuki actually been formed by Pein? Or was it that Tobi-Madara guy? You hadn’t exactly given Konan much room to respond when that came up. You reached up and grasped the towel, reaming it around your hair to extract whatever excess water was left. Then you went and flung that towel down the laundry chute in the wall behind the bathroom door; subtle, very lightly defined muscle tone rippling like water beneath your skin as you walked. You were as strongly built as a woman gets without taking steroids and doing crunches for hours on end. You’ve seen how bulky some women get; you’d mistaken a couple as men on occasion, were it not for the wider hips and breasts.   
No, this body you had was that of a woman who has been through a lot of hardship and fighting in her life. And if nothing else, that is one easy way to describe it, as ninja are trained from a very young age… _disciplined_ at a very young age. In your case it had been ruthless. So yes. You were a more defined than other women…though thankfully (you noted, looking down at yourself with wide eyes)…you were _not_ butch. 

_’Why am I staring at myself? I’m not in love with me.’_   
Far from it. Heh.

But as you figured you wouldn’t be running around much today at least, you pulled on something you could relax in; black pants for now. But a top…hmmmm, a top, a top…

KNOCK KNOCK.

Your head flew up from where you had been leaning down to poke through your shirts and stared at the door, then grasped a long sleeved midnight blue fishnet top with smaller, tighter than usual netting and pulled it on quickly without half assing it.

KNOCK. KNOCK.

“Yeah, yeah…” You pulled your zip-up on over one shoulder and grabbed the doorknob, not paying attention that you haven’t exactly pulled the whole top on yet. 

There, with a hand poised to knock, was Madara.

And he froze, red eye migrating downwards from your face to your fishnet-coated torso, under which was only that black and green bra. Kind of a sexy one, too. Oops?

But, instead of being embarrassed (the damage is already done) you narrowed your eyes at Madara, resting more weight on one hip as you did, so that your hip nudged out further to the side as you leaned, looking more curvaceous than usual this way. “What do you want?” You sighed in annoyance, dark zip-up slung carelessly over only one shoulder. Your damp black locks clung a little to your neck, but otherwise were also cascaded over one shoulder from the angle you were leaning. Although, you might’ve just looked more like an irritated teenage daughter leaning on her door with an attitude. 

Madara was...stuck.

“Well?”

“Ah...”

“Tch. Typical man.” You clucked your tongue and made to swing the door shut in his face but he woke up in time to hold it open with one palm flat against the side. He caught your sly grin. “I think I’ve won this round already.” And with this, pulled the zip-up on over your other shoulder and closed it up to two inches below your collarbones. His single eye had followed the zipper up, focusing on the skin above it as it closed. “Makes it worth accidentally letting you see me like this.” Since he didn’t want to leave you be you went to your desk, opened a drawer, pulled out a roll of black bandages, and sat down on your bed to wrap your thigh before fastening the usual bunch of senbon holsters on over it. Despite how you didn’t plan on going anywhere for the rest of the day (and you were generally tired), you had to stay prepared. Especially since the enemy was standing in your door. Literally. Although, it was more that you didn't want to stand there and have a staring contest with that orange faced bastard.

“You will be pleased to know that Sasuke had survived your blunder.”

“I'm aware.” You looked up with raised eyebrows, now wordlessly suggesting that you knew more about this from the start. But Madara was feeling _particularly_ humorless, and the attitude didn’t earn a chuckle, not even a little bit. Not that you could tell if he cracked a smile; but now it was that you and Madara spoke on a most sarcastic and scathing basis. He had dumped the joking happy goofy Tobi demeanor for his real nature. “So I take it you now know what happened? Or would you like that report now...I'd've done so earlier, but your request was poorly timed. We were about to drain a jinchuuriki, and he was in dreadful health.”

Madara eye was level and calm through the eyehole in his swirled orange mask. Right now you had the distinct impulse to rip that thing off his face and bury your knucklebones against the bridge of his nose. 

“That won't be necessary.”

“Is that all you came to say? If so, thanks for giving me a heads up. Sasuke is probably out for my blood now.” 

“You will pay for what you’ve done.” Madara ground out in a deadly low voice. You leaned foreword, resting your elbows on your knees, looking up at him with a bare and easily-targeted throat and wide violet eyes. “Keep up with the death threats. They almost sound promising.” But you ruined the mood with a smile.

“Not that it matters anymore.” You pulled your knee high boots on and grasped his upper arm as you walked from the room. You dug your fingers in between the muscle and bone of his arm as best you could. It’s usually painful for anyone; and Madara got to see just how powerful your grip was, in a different way than most men like. He thought he could feel the bruise forming already. While he could always erase his arm to make you relinquish that grip, Madara also knew you weren't stupid enough to take real action against him right now. Erasing his arm to make you let go would be a wasted effort, and also a bit like blinking first in a staring contest. 

“Let's put this in perspective Madara; you wanted me to do as you asked and it backfired in your fucking face.” You turned, closing the door, your body five inches from his, and you put a hand on his chest and pushed him back rudely, retracting your hand before he chose to respond. Whether or not you openly disrespected him, you also understood that he's still an incredibly dangerous man. “Come on. Don’t act so shocked. You played and lost this once."   
This said, you went down the hall since Madara kept his mouth shut with nothing he trusted himself to say. But really, he was waiting. Within brewed absolute hatred, and he would not let himself be trounced every which way. His eye moved to the door he stood next to. 

Well then, it was time to resort to lower tactics. There would be no use in fighting you. He already knew it. Most understood just what it meant to take you on, that it would get messy quick and there was no two ways about it. No one can fight a ghost and win the day handily. Not unless you know how. Madara could buy himself as much time as he wanted with his strange ‘Space/Time’ bending jutsu, able to ‘erase’ himself from existence without a handseal. But it was not what is required to fight a ghost, and a fight between you two could last for quite awhile.

So now is when Madara decided to put one of your claims to the test, and he vanished out of the hall into your bedroom, where he nicked a vial of poison from your desk and exited the room same as he entered; by using his jutsu to displace himself in and out. 

Then he went to the kitchen.


	37. Thy Own Medicine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You are poisoned by Madara and tensions are running high again. But once you are healthy again, you make sure to pay him back in spades.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rhig: I don't care how lame I made Madara act in the end, I'm sadistic and I enjoy torturing him. <3 Take that how you will. Also; 666 views. HELLZ YEAH. Thank you all so much for the reads, reviews, kudos, compliments, bookmarks, and all that jazz!!!

Thy Own Medicine

 

How difficult could it be, Madara was beginning to wonder, to lace the medic’s food and/or drink with her own venomous concoctions? He didn't think a fight was worth his valuable time, so trying to poison you was an alternative, with the benefit of disgrace if you proved to be vulnerable to the one thing you claimed to be immune against. This was underhanded though, the very same tactics the original ninja would use—they had been farmers, lorded over by harsh men who knew nothing but their own needs. Peasants couldn’t fight samurai in full armor with their katana and wakizashi amongst other things. So they took their farming instruments, and other hidden ‘everyday’ items useable as weapons…and ambushed such men when the opportunity presented itself. They used little things called ‘black eggs’, filled with pepper powder and crushed glass…to blind the enemy, and the smaller version of a farmer’s sickle; the kama; to gut the men when they least expected it. Early ninja employed deadly strategies from the beginning of their appearance. Tactics which had been streamlined through the ages, until the Sage of the Six Paths arose, a man who introduced chakra and its usage to the world.

Heh, what a comparison. Tobi was the ninja. You, with katana and wakizashi of tyrannical blackened steel, were the samurai. His target. The one whom oppressed him at every turn. 

You were in the kitchen, he’d followed you there. The trick was getting you, and you _alone_ , with this poison. The easiest way into this was to pour it into your drink when the opportunity arose. And he knew you’d treat him warily if he simply walked in for any reason. 

Madara knew too well that he could not risk killing the others off. He had use of them still. And the world was on lookout for him and his comrades; there was no way that he’d amass another group of such undeniable talent. And you were amongst them. He grimaced under his mask to admit to himself that you were highly skilled as well and that was what got him in this mess. First in the sense that he had hand picked you amongst the others, save for how you’d been trained by Nagato Pein from a young age. Nextly, because you had developed a will of your own. More so than many others. You’d been _raised_ to be used, and clearly some portion of your upbringing went badly awry. 

Then it dawned upon him and he almost blew his cover from the shadows, where his body was carefully erased. His mouth fell slightly ajar before his teeth clenched in anger. Nagato. _That fucking rat!!!_ It made too much sense; you would’ve been a lot different if your upbringing went according to how Madara deemed fit. No no. Pein had his own ambitions back then as well, though he pretended that he was satisfied with helping Madara in turn. He had started Akatsuki right at the very beginning, only for Madara to assume control at the group’s fledgling stage. Madara had been naïve to believe that Nagato could be controlled enough to obey each order to the letter. While Madara had a death grip over Akatsuki, Pein was able to act as he pleased anyway, securing for himself the future goal of wresting control from Madara at last. You, Saiya, had become one more catalyst for change. 

That’s okay. Change was fine. As long as its directed in a beneficial manner.

“So?” A woman’s voice rent his vicious thoughts apart and Madara realized you were staring right at the patch of wall where he’d glued his invisible body.

Instead of responding, he calmly made for the door, body still ‘erased’ from sight, and he froze for the moment when he heard a knife become buried in the wooden cutting board you were at. You carefully wiped a few pieces of finely chopped garlic from your ungloved hands and looked up towards where Madara had frozen. “Not bad. I wouldn’t of noticed if you kept your chakra suppressed.”

But his chakra _is_ suppressed. Madara's brow furrowed, but he was stumped only for a second. He detected another energy behind the wall and before figuring out whose, the answer presented himself. Deidara crossed the threshold and gave a chuckle. “Hahah, too bad. I coulda scared you, un.”

“How so?” You asked the blonde affably enough; not remotely concerned. Tobi’s one red eye widened under his mask. _You didn’t notice!_ He slipped through the kitchen, confident no one knew he was here. There was a kettle warming on the stove and a teabag in a single cup upon the counter. This would be perfect. He saw you pour hot water in, nearly bumping into him on the way, and then let the tea set. While you spoke to Deidara he poured in some fluid as carefully as he could. 

“Doesn’t matter now, un.” Then, a moment later, “What’re you making?”

“Something we haven’t had in quite awhile since I last cooked.” Aside from this, you offered no actual answer. He shrugged. “Guess I’ll have to wait, un.”

“Yeah.” You mixed up some filling to stuff steamed rolls with and then after assembling them, amongst some other things, you grabbed your tea cup and took a swig, then coughed and set it down. “Too hot.” You croaked. 

Deidara blinked. “Saiya, um…”

“Hm?” After which, you coughed again.

“Is tea supposed to be that color, un?”

You looked. It _was_ kind of vibrant, but you didn’t know what kind of tea it was anyway; it was sitting in a box with the rest of the teabags, should anyone want one cup rather than make a pot. You had stuck your hand in that box and grabbed one right in the middle. “Let it sit too long probably.” You had not noticed Madara. Deidara obviously didn’t either or he might have said something. Soon others floated in, pumpkinface included, but he usually didn’t eat with the others unless he could scarf his food with no one seeing what’s under the mask. This evening was a rarity for him to appear with the others. He was interested in seeing what would happen given what he laced your drink with; and it was likely that no one would eat after you dropped dead, for fear they might get poisoned by eating as well. Whatever that odorless liquid was, maybe it would be a really gruesome way to go. Perhaps not. But he hoped it was painful at least.  
Sadly he didn’t really get to see anything. You were acting normal, talking with the others as people ate. This time no one goofed off as much but some minor antics ensued and laughs were had. Conversation flowed from one topic to another but was relatively mundane and people were just happy to be back and having something not prepared by unknown hands. You wouldn’t try to kill them. Others tried to do so in Anarchy. 

You were one of the quickest to finish eating, with less of an appetite than the others, and left the kitchen/dining area. As you entered the hallway and walked down towards the network of corridors that led to bedrooms and other places you began to feel dizzy and stopped, blinking at the end of the corridor. Your body was going numb and stiff and you did not chance another step foreword, slumping against the wall. Your pulse began to race and your breath came fast and shallow, but you could not move. Your mind raced, becoming more and more clouded as your lungs began to feel paralyzed. These were symptoms of poisoning. It was…it was…a…

…you fainted. 

 

_With The Others…_

 

Madara had been keeping a discreet eye upon your actions during dinner. Whilst you liked to ignore his presence now, Pein, who often said nothing and merely observed the others as he ate, had noticed that Madara was eyeballing you like prey. When he got up to leave the room shortly after you did, Pein abruptly got up and followed on instinct alone. Something was wrong. Madara was anxious and had a hard time containing it for once. He was only like that when he knew something big was going to happen; for fuck’s sake, he couldn’t curb his enthusiasm when plotting about gathering Sasuke and his cronies into Akatsuki.

He found Tobi literally down the hall, back to the way he came, kneeling down to have a look at a body on the floor. Pein moved silently behind him and Tobi arose to turn around and look. All he was met with was cold rings of pale purple-tinted gray. “Ah. Pein.”

He ignored Madara, having seen what he needed to see in the other's eye when he hadn’t been expecting to be followed so fast. He usually left early anyway on the occasions that he ate with the group, but for you to leave before him was actually very strange; you normally stayed with the others until they left, just out of a reason to hang around before you got back to work on whatever you were up to. Unless, of course, something was wrong. Madara was getting sloppy, perhaps intentionally, to send a message.

Pein knelt down beside you and felt for a pulse, then picked you up and carried you away. Mentally he called for Sasori, who frowned, but slowly made his way towards your room where Pein directed him to go. He laid you down, and Sasori appeared at the open door. “What?”

“She's been poisoned.” Pein stated, his tone clipped and cold. Sasori was never in a position to refuse a directive from Pein. No one was. He was powerful enough to refer to himself as God. And you had confirmed this as his student since _before_ you became an honorary Jashinist. Foremost as far as faith went, you believed in business, not heaven and hell. So when you agreed that Pein’s strength was godlike, others listened. ‘Atheists’ don’t concede such things easily. And lately you didn't seem so keen on praying to Hidan's obscure diety.

Sasori took it that Pein wanted him to check and make sure, so he did so, feeling your pulse and taking note of your breathing, which was more laborious than it had been in the hallway. He looked around, found some latex gloves in your desk, and pulled them on, then with one thumb on your chin eased your mouth open. Since you had nothing to depress a person’s tongue in the room, he had to use a finger to press your tongue down so he could try and see down your throat, then he leaned back after he learned what he needed to know and looked up at Pein from where Sasori currently sat on the edge of your bed. “It obviously wasn’t injected. Someone put this in her food, but at least her throat isn't swollen.”

“And the others?”

“No, we would’ve noticed by now if we were poisoned as well. Her drink would've been laced instead.” Sasori, with a fingerful of saliva now, put it on a slide and sat down at the microscope you had on your desk. He stripped the gloves off and peered through the glass, trying to determine what the toxin was made from since, already, he had difficulties deciphering it by a physical examination alone. “Judging by what I can see of it's composition, we would’ve been dead already.” He said hesitantly after several minutes, adjusting a knob on the microscope. 

Pein made no indication to his feelings but he was relieved. He watched Sasori throw his gloves away and look through the drawers of your desk. 

“If there is not an antidote made prepared, I'll have a rough time of it.” Sasori admitted reluctantly, which caught Pein’s attention immediately from where he’d been watching you suffer. “What?”

“It is highly complex, and I'd need to study this more to develop a reliable antidote. It's likely that this type of poison is designed to kill fast. Even if Konoha’s Hokage tried to cure this she would be too late to stop death.” He continued rummaging through drawers. 

“How long until she dies?”

“Saiya ought to turn into her wraith form in a couple hours if she can't outlast it." Sasori wanted to grin and laugh but contained himself. It was funny to him that this should happen finally; someone got pissed off enough to use your own poison against you. After all you had claimed more than once that you could drink any of your own concoctions and live so why not test it?  
At last he finished reading labels long enough to find the drawer where one vial was missing. You had grouped them together by type, so now he had an idea of what he was looking at, then went one drawer down and found, laying on its side amongst several scrolls, spools of cord, inkpots and brushes, was a vial of faintly glowing viscous liquid. It was silver in color, similar to mercury yet not opaque, and was tinged purple. This reminded Sasori of Pein’s Rinnegan, actually.

“This…” He picked it up carefully, as if a bit worried it could singe his fingers through the glass. You clearly wanted to keep it out of sight but had nowhere to hide it. When Sasori held it at eye level he could see through the incandescent liquid to Pein. You had told him about this once, mentioning you’d only had enough ingredients to make one batch and had gone to such pains to formulate it. The items required to make it were extremely rare even on the black market. Truthfully, he wasn't sure why you wanted to let him know it existed, except as maybe a thinly veiled threat, but Sasori decided against exploiting this knowledge. If he were to slaughter you one day, he intended to do it slowly...personally. _Intimately_. Perhaps you knew this about him.

This was the poison that completely demolished every single system of the body, multiplying down to destruction at the cellular level, beginning with the chakra lines, thus rendering the foe incapable of using their abilities from the start. And you also theorized aloud that this fluid could make it impossible to resurrect the recipient afterward by any means. This is a last resort toxin when nothing else works. When you want somebody to absolutely irreversibly disappear. Sasori sure as hell wouldn’t want it used on himself. As he put it away again hastily and closed the drawer, Konan had arrived and asked, “Sasori ,what was that?”

He pretended to ignore the question. Right now he had thoughts rushing through his head, and that’s not so great when he’s trying to figure out how to save a former enemy’s life. When he discovered the notes on the only missing vial, he quickly found what he needed and loaded it into a syringe. “The antidote?” Pein inquired.

“Unless I misunderstood the labels, yes.” 

This declaration was not met with enthusiasm. But your subordinates, who presumably _do_ understand your bizarre coding system, were not close at hand and no one knew how to find them. As of now, you were running a low on energy again after the sealing ritual, and they risked losing you if you died and didn't have enough chakra reserved to heal the damage. Far as anybody could tell that was one of the most astringent and logical limitations to your Ghost manifestation. 

Sasori injected the fluid into your neck. If your breath became any more labored and shallow there would be a possibility of brain damage from minimal oxygen intake. Konan sat on the bed next to you and almost tenderly brushed dark hair away from your face with the side of a hand. Upon touching your ice cold skin she could sense that your nerves were shot with agony, and Itachi, whom was at the door the whole while, noticed that as well. Twas’ a good thing that he was able to contain his emotions, because right now his insides were tightened into a knot. The notion that he might lose somebody else he cared for to that masked menace was infuriating. He pried his eyes away from your unconscious form and glanced around the room. Everyone else here appeared ready to kill on your behalf whether they hid that fact or not, and all for separate reasons. Even Sasori, as he was monitoring you for reactions, was thinking about how this could be easily pinned on him. And if that _did_ happen, he had hell to pay for actions he never committed. _Then_ he'd be hunting down whoever got him into this mess to gut them like a fish and make them his puppet bitch. But Madara was found standing over your body. It's not exactly gory fingerprints at the crime scene, but it's as close as they'd get for now, long as they could look past your troubled history with Sasori.

Over an hour would pass with no substantial change in condition. You were alive yet unresponsive, and your breathing remained shallow. Konan and Pein held a muted conversation in the hall outside your room and Itachi stepped inside in place of them, and sat solemnly on your desk chair. Sasori purposefully took no notice of him. He knew you both were close. And he still had his little mark on your collarbone there. Itachi wouldn’t be Sasori’s biggest fan if you two were together now. That, and the Puppet Master could tell that the other was waiting patiently for a change in condition. If you died, he'd want to know who to hunt down should it come to that.

But while ignoring one another, both men were straining to hear Pein and Konan’s conversation. There wasn't much else they could do right now but wait anyhow. Might as well eavesdrop.

“You’re certain it was Madara?”  
“Yes.” Pein answered. “Madara wants her dead. Saiya has become too much of a danger for him to leave alive."  
“Pein, we cannot let him sabotage us like this. First it is Saiya, next he'll go after you.”  
“No. Not I.” His eyes flickered towards your bedroom door, and Konan frowned, catching his drift. Itachi. Of course. Madara didn’t want Itachi around anymore either; and now that two of his largest threats were a couple, Madara’s life was about to get much harder if it hadn’t already. “He may not have used the whole vial, either. It could not have been placed in any of the food we ate so that means he likely poured it into her drink without any of us noticing.”

“I doubt it happened when we were eating. Maybe before then. I saw an empty cup of tea sitting alone on the counter when I got to the kitchen.” Konan said. “It could have been hers."

Both fell silent, then Konan said so hushed that barely a sound passed her lips, “Madara must be removed. He won’t stop at this, Pein. He's been insistent on getting rid of anybody in his way, and you _know_ that he has been waiting for the best opportunity to get rid of us now that things aren't going according to plan."

“I am aware of that."  
“What can we do?”  
“Wait and watch for now.” He responded, voice low and a hair annoyed. "There's little else that can be done at the moment. But I doubt he'll try the same thing twice." 

Konan’s lips thinned and her eyebrows drew together slightly. She disliked that answer but would not disregard it despite that Pein hadn’t said what she wanted to hear. And what did she want him to say, exactly? That there was something which could be done immediately? That they could be unchained from their burden that is Madara and get on with their own plans unhindered? But these were petty hopes in the face of danger and the one that helped ensure their survival was flat on her back. Could they ensure –her- survival?   
Then it dawned on Konan.

“Pein…”  
“Yes?”  
“Let’s speak somewhere more private.” 

 

_With You…_

 

Your eyes wouldn’t open. Your muscles had the strength of room-temp tofu. It felt like there was liquid in your lungs but yet there wasn’t enough strength to cough. You wanted to choke, but couldn’t open your mouth or work your throat. All your tendons went slack, and you were utterly helpless.

This was the worst feeling in the world...wasn’t as though you were dying violently, but you _are_ dying. Actually, you should’ve gone irreversibly comatose by now. Your mind tried to gain some footing sluggishly, kept slipping back one thought at a time, then sliding backwards two…it was like trying to walk up a muddy slope during a hurricane. Take one step and fall back two. Take another step, and you’re at the foot of the hill in a puddle. You couldn’t think. Your brain was beset with nonsense, sentences fragmented to letters, nothing adhering together to bind into a single word.   
Helpless. Completely, totally helpless.

Itachi watched solemnly from where he sat on your desk chair the wrong way (per usual), arms resting on the back. Your eyelids parted slightly, revealing a slivered crescent of amethyst and bloodshot whites. Your pupils had dilated fully beneath the lids and were barely contracting now that they were assailed by light. Sasori looked down at you, his face was blurry and his voice sounded as though he were calling down to you from atop a precipice. But you did not comprehend that it was words he was speaking. Only strange noises that bore no meaning.

“Saiya?” Sasori tried again. Itachi, behind him at the desk, shook his head once.

“Apparently she can’t hear.” Sasori assented, then waved a hand over your eyes, saw they barely followed, and snapped his fingers next to your left ear. You turned your head a fraction towards the sound that was still a mile away.

“That's something at least." He muttered, then he opened your right eye wider and waited to see if the pupil would contract. It began to do so, painstakingly slow, and the muscle and skin pinned open by his fingers strained to close belatedly.

“Is the antidote going to work?” Itachi inquired at last. Sasori took his time in answering, now with his fingers under your jaw line, testing your pulse. He was no medic but he was doing what he could, being under orders and all.  
“I’ll put this in perspective.” Sasori answered now. “When a poison is formulated it is never for a kinder purpose. The antidote is seldom to never used, or if it is, rarely is administered in time.” Sasori was testing the pulse on your wrist now, for want of something to do with his hands. “It could have been sitting there unused, and may not have been at its full capacity to neutralize the toxin due to a shelf life.” He was solemn, and added as an afterthought, “Saiya and I use poison on the majority of our weapons, senbon mainly. Once that is used on an enemy, it is only enough to envenom _them_ and cannot be used again—as such, an antidote on the battlefield isn’t always required. They become a waste of material which could be put to other uses."

“Is it not common sense to always carry an antidote?” Itachi responded coldly, if not a hint scathingly. It sounded to him as if Sasori was trying to justify this whole mess. Personally, the puppeteer never needed to concoct antidotes because he lived out his days in a doll's shell.

“Yes, though I personally had no need to do so until recent events.” Sasori agreed, ignoring the other's tone. Twas' best to rise above that. Itachi was concerned for his woman, even Sasori could understand that. “If one uses them, one must also have a way to cure it or at least know _how_ to in a pinch. However Saiya has said before that she makes herself immune. There's but one way to do that.”

Itachi figured out the answer to that already, he was no fool, and Sasori certainly didn't need to spell it out. He was watching you again and didn’t know if...all along...you'd been doing what Sasori insinuated. Though he hoped not, or at least, hoped you'd stopped that behavior. Either you lied and weren’t immune, or only built up a resistance. Then he wondered how fast _he_ would have died had it been him poisoned, or one of the others. Perhaps you were surviving something they couldn’t. Maybe it was because of your contorted cellular makeup, so manipulated by chakra that you became something else; a specter when you willed it or when you died.

There's too many ‘maybe’ scenarios. 

Hours would pass and Sasori did as he could. Now it was the dead of night. Konan decided to stay at your bedside and Pein realized that he felt more at ease knowing she would be there, especially if Madara decided to come back and finish the job. You weren’t able to move much (and therefore, couldn’t protect yourself from he whom had it out for you) but your breathing was getting stronger and you shifted a bit during sleep. You spent a lot of time passed out though, and whenever you were awake, Konan trickled water down your throat to keep you hydrated per Sasori's instructions. Awhile longer and you were now able to swallow the water on your own, which was better than Konan's attempts to pour droplets into your mouth and barely avoid choking you. She felt funny doing it anyway. 

You had no comprehension of time in your current state. Thoughts remained broken, drifting in fragments in this space of your mind. There were moments when you heard a man’s voice speaking in your mind. But you didn’t understand him yet or who he was. Itachi, Sasori and Konan took turns watching over you. Pein was typically busy, but would swing by when he got a moment to make sure his student was alright. You were persisting longer than Sasori initially predicted, he was no medic after all, and at this rate it was taking so long that it wore on _everyone's_ nerves.  
But then eventually it ran its course like a disease; and when Konan stepped back into the room with a frosty bottle of water you were sitting up in bed with your back to the wall. “Saiya?”

“Hey Konan.” You answered wearily.   
“How’re you feeling?” She ventured cautiously.  
“Like a fifth of Black Sun and an ass kicking from sensei.”  
"That good, huh?” She appeared relieved though, and asked, “Are you up to taking a shower?”  
“I’ll try. It’ll help me feel better probably.”

Konan nodded, watching you get to your feet unsteadily, but you were able to walk on your own with wobbling a bit here and there, using walls as support whenever you could. Konan asked you what you wanted to wear and you told her a pair of black shorts and any top would do. She was being helpful and kind, gentle in a way you hadn't realized she was capable of. It was the very same sweet young lady shining through that Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru had met during the war. And you were _not_ ungrateful for this disposition she displayed behind a closed door. It was…nice…to have someone that cared. You had forgotten what it was to experience that feeling. Mother hadn't exactly been... _ahem_...'motherly'.

You went to shower and Konan left the room for now. With the bathroom as tiny as it was you would have to change in the bedroom itself per usual, and therefore she would give you privacy. Konan went to Pein to inform him that you were, at last, walking and talking. He did not openly show his relief, but she knew he was glad of this news. “You’re certain Madara did this?” She asked again. They hadn’t spoken on this issue since it began.   
“It would be no one else.” Pein pointed out. “Saiya has shown herself to be an enemy of his, and has already taken actions against him, no matter how trivial or backhanded.”

Konan afforded him a grim stare. “Pein, Saiya may not know it was him. Or if she does, there will be repercussions. She isn’t one to sit idly by.”

“Yes.” He responded warily, and unfurled a blank scroll. “That's something to watch out for.”

“And?”

“I won't stand in her way. She has the undisputable right to make a move against him now no matter how harsh it may be. He made an attempt on her life, and a well timed one at that. Saiya was so low on chakra from the ritual that she might not have survived death this once."  
Konan's mouth drew tight, forming a line of distaste. "I dislike the odds." It was bound to get messy very fast one way or another. If he doesn't strike again you may go looking for trouble, if you didn’t already have a mind to do something rash. His attempt on your life was more than adequate. And Pein was wise to stay as far out of it as humanly possible. The question is, would the others do the same?

 

_With You…_

 

Showering did well for your state of mind, as it always has. After you dried off, dressed and brushed your hair, you sat down and inspected the bottle of water at your bedside before taking a sip from it, and finding it untainted, drank the whole thing down on a partial breath. Then you went to your desk and began poking through it to see what you took a dose of to cause the vegetable-esque condition you’d laid in for the full duration of a week.

So you finally found what it was. An unfinished substance. This was one of the components of the vial in the bottom drawer that looked like liquid Rinnegan. If one part of that poisonous cocktail proved this debilitating, the finished product in the bottom drawer was fluid death on so many levels that no medic alive would be able to stop it from working. Not even your own group had seen its like. You had shown it to Sasori once on a ‘mine’s bigger’ basis only (Childish? Absolutely). Which led you to understand that it was _not_ Sasori. He would’ve used it and you wouldn’t be here figuring this out. But you thought you saw an orange mask when you were passing out. 

Madara.  
Of course.

“That mother fucker.” You grunted at the door and then checked the clock. 11:27 am. It was getting close to lunch, but you weren't hungry. Yet you felt there was no choice except to eat; after that nonsense you were left weak and had to get your strength back up. Madara attempted to kill you once now, it was beyond likely that he'd do so again. You’d put nothing past him now either. But you did have an idea in the way of a little security. You took a blank scroll and tore off equal-sized squares of paper, then unsheathed your wakizashi and pressed an index finger against its sharp tip, breaking the skin easily. After watching some blood well up you set the blade down and set to work using your blood as ink to inscribe seals upon the parchment. You’d wait for them to dry, and then placed one inside of each drawer. This way Madara would get a nasty shock when and if he decided to begin rooting around in your desk again. This done, you sucked away the dribble of blood lining that cut, sheathed the wakizashi at your side and left the room. Your miniscule injury began to mend shut on the way to the kitchen. When you entered the room, others were there. Deidara, Kisame and Hidan. 

“What the fuck, you’re alive?”   
“Yes Hidan. I’m alive.”

“She wouldn’t be here otherwise, un.”

Kisame was not laughing though. He was solemn, drinking something that you couldn’t see. You nodded to him once then went about finding something to eat. “I knew your tea was kinda weird, un.”

“Yeah. I should’ve listened.” You answered dully, drumming your fingers against the refrigerator door which was held open with that palm. “Oh well. Tis' over and done with.”

“For now, un.”  
“Yes. For now.”

“Did it hurt like hell?” Hidan inquired curiously.  
“Can’t answer that properly. The part I do remember felt like my brain was dislocated from my body, that’s the only way I can describe it. And for the record, this shouldn't have happened. Not like that.” Of course you were not about to admit the sensation of overall helplessness. You had gone to great pains in order to earn some respect around here. It wouldn’t take much to break that to pieces; but now, you were wondering about that too. You survived something that the others probably wouldn’t, with the exception of Kakuzu and Hidan.  
There’s a bit to be said for that isn’t there?

You settled on having some bread, fruit, and water…strange for the other three to see, as you normally would roll up your sleeves and cook something. No one blamed you for the simple choice of a meal after that ordeal. But you took a fresh pitcher of water with you to the table and pulled a scroll out from your pack. This one was rather wide, and a little tattered along the edges, the dowel worn and dented. It was old, as the paper itself was beginning to yellow and a quarter of it that they could see was waterstained. 

“What is that?” Kisame asked, stealing the pitcher of water and pouring himself some. The other two were rooting around for food as well. “Notes.” You responded calmly, unfurling it with one hand, re-rolling the opposite end with the other so you could get to another part of the scroll without letting it spread over the table. Your jewel purple eyes did not skim the characters and diagrams written there; rather, you’d absorb the details. It had taken you years to fabricate the method for making the glowing venom in the bottom desk drawer—years for the method _alone_. The items required to make it were so rare it took you equally as long to accrue what you needed. You had to make sure you could find a way to cure the incurable. But as you read along and your memory became refreshed, you were struck with the realization that there was absolutely no return from it. If Madara got his paws on that, you were doomed, and it was dumb fricken' luck he didn't use it in the first place. Not a lot was needed to sentence a person to death. But the whole thing would kill in a matter of minutes. That one vial was so large it was more of a narrow flask. 

You glanced up towards the others. They were quiet and keeping to themselves. You decided to finish eating and left the room. Itachi was nowhere to be found but as Kisame was still here, you figured he was around somewhere; they are a team and always go on missions together. But he wasn’t in his room and was in none of the training rooms either. Madara had also vanished into thin air. 

As thoughts of possible treachery afoot crossed your mind, you didn’t notice how the hours trickled by. Mainly you kept planted at the desk and mulled things over. Madara likely had not exhausted his use for Itachi, since Sasuke is still alive. But he might try something else. Was it that one or both of them had gone to see Sasuke? Itachi had his own designs that weren't complete. And Madara made it evident that he needed Sasuke; both yourself and Itachi were easy ways to get to him. But sending you caused serious problems and that left Madara with Itachi as his only option to use for bait to lure Sasuke in close enough.

Is that why both were gone?

You sighed and got up, eyeing the clock. Twas' close to dinner and your stomach was actually growling so hard that you thought you would vomit acid if you didn’t eat something to soak it up. People had left you alone all day, except you were so lost in thought you didn’t notice. Konan had things to attend to which had been neglected during your illness and everyone else had busied themselves somehow or another. It was the most peace you got in awhile. Attempting to push Madara from your mind, you hoped for the best that Itachi was okay. If Madara tried something it would be too late for you to pick up the trail—not only would too _late_ , you mused, but it’d be downright _impossible_. Madara can erase himself and invisible men don’t leave footprints or broken twigs. And who knows? If his clothes vanish with his flesh, maybe he can do the same thing to a whole other person. Zetsu certainly could.

You didn’t exit the room without some insurance. You had to cover your own ass from now on and leave little or nothing to chance. Madara did this once. He could do so again. After that you went to the kitchen, the only other place you’d visited today. Your rumbling belly kept you wide awake and you got the idea that you probably couldn’t sleep tonight if you wanted to. And if Itachi was nearby in a place you neglected to look you couldn’t start ‘something’ with him…no matter how badly you ached for that. There had been startling moments as of late where you wondered what it’d feel like to have him inside of you…what the sensation of his flesh ravishing yours would be like.   
But Madara's underhanded attack incited a new paranoia within you, and because of that you didn’t dare try anything now. You’d only wind up giving him ammo to use against you both.

Would it ever be safe to go about your personal life? Ever?

If nothing else, you needed a distraction from all the dark thoughts. Upon reaching the kitchen, you began cooking. You pulled out all the stops too; whipping together the good stuff that the others seemed to greatly enjoy having for dinner. The kitchen overflowed with fragrant, delicious aromas and as usual, attracted the men and your fellow woman in short order. Madara was not among them; but Itachi _was_ , and you couldn’t be more relieved or happy to see him…you also couldn’t be in any less of a ‘position’ to ‘greet’ him ‘properly’ if you were ‘tied’ to a post. 

“Completely recovered I see.” Sasori observed coolly, now extracting a bottle from the walk-in. Noticing that, you reached under the counter with a clean hand and took out a shot glass for him. "Yes. Thank you for that, incidentally." Sasori accepted the glass and poured himself a shot. He should've been stymied that you were being gracious about this whole thing. And he didn't bother pointing out that he'd been under orders to oversee your recovery. That was pretty self-evident. Perhaps he ought to take this as a sign that events of the past actually were water under the bridge. He took his shot, and poured another one.

"Don't mention it. I have a reputation to uphold."

You said nothing more to that and continued working. Minutes later, Konan strode in armed with three folders and situated herself at the table, now beginning to read and drink some fresh tea you brewed. Kakuzu and Hidan arrived, bickering as usual and seeming rather cross about their last mission where Hidan had (purposefully, of course) taken longer than usual in his prayers. At least _Kakuzu_ was cross, Hidan was too busy being self righteous. Deidara ambled in the door while rolling a ball of clay between his mouthed hands and glanced around curiously with one visible azure eye, wondering what you were making, and so soon after your poisoning at that. You were in rare form this evening. Not only were you humming aimlessly and generally in high spirits, but appeared in a peaceful frame of mind and were trading witty banter here and there with Itachi, Sasori, and shooting one across at Kakuzu and Hidan whenever they left themselves open to a zinger. 

And with that, Deidara realized that there was something wrong at play. Before he could pinpoint what that was, the answer presented itself.

A man’s scream echoed down the corridors, and the kitchen went stone silent. But you continued to work at your cooking and said nothing with a small, knowing smirk worn on your face. That scream came from Madara, of all people.

“What the hell was that, un?”

“Why not go and see?” You suggested pleasantly. “I promise it’s worth it.”

Madara? Screaming? Over what? And you know _why_?  
Hell yeah!

Even Konan got up and left the room and Itachi lingered back, eyeing you over a moment before his eyes flickered red and then dimmed to black. “They haven’t noticed that you are a shadow clone.”

“Let it be, someone needs to watch the food.”

“A clone that cooks?”

“Why not?”

Itachi left the room without another word and followed the tormented cries. He was led to your bedroom where, not only where Madara lay upon the floor in his own blood, but his hands were singed clean to the bone about the palms, or what remained of them. The blood came from the backs of his ankles, which were sliced deeply so that he could not stand up if he tried…and using his hands to attempt to rise from the floor must’ve been what made it worse, since he understood too late that the tendons on the backs of his ankles were completely severed and no ordinary blade was used. You stood above him as a ghost with your katana and wakizashi in hand, glowering down at him. Blood also pooled from beneath his stomach where you had stabbed him in the gut, probably angling towards something important aside from his heart. The area of his cloak around a stab wound to his back was burnt also and the skin beneath blackened slightly. 

“How stupid do you think I am, jackass?” You bit out sharply, and while being a ghost, your voice was disembodied and the distaste resonating in your tone was jarring. “Have you lost your MIND? Come on. Lets be serious here.”

Madara was in so much pain that he didn’t answer. When the others looked closer, walking into the room to see, they’d understand why. There were also ghostly senbon pierced into his vital pressure points. He was completely incapacitated and, since they are now made of your chakra, was suffering every moment they remained buried in him. That chakra is poison in itself, and those ghost senbon are _extremely_ hard to see. He couldn’t take them out if he wanted to. But with all this, why hadn't he tried to erase himself? That's the big question. You took a couple steps closer and resolidified, one foot landing upon his left hand. A tiny gasp escaped his throat when he managed to unclench his jaw.

“Yeah yeah, quit your cryin'.” You bit out coldy, resheathing your blades. There was a desk drawer open and a thin wisp of smoke issued from it. It was the blood seals you made. They’re nasty pieces of work when touched by anyone but you. Madara discovered this the hard way that the spell from those seals covered your entire desk—the moment he touched the surface, they were activated, and a second later when opening the drawer, his hands were flash-fried. The others looking down upon Madara were stymied at the sight (and smell) of this, since they didn't get the whole story yet. Not to mention, you can't use weapons (much less senbon) as a ghost unless they're forged from chakrasteel like your two blades. 

“So, lesson learned I hope.” You began cheerfully enough, turning and shifting your weight down on the hand beneath your boot and a muffled sound issued from beneath his mask. “No sneaking around my room.” You glanced down at Madara, eyes narrowing a fraction wickedly, and you purposefully ground your heel into the back of his wounded hand. Blood beaded up around the edge of your sole, and an audible 'snap!' later, he was trying to prevent additional noises from slipping his tongue.

“Or else.”


	38. Blood Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You embark on a trip with Kakuzu and Hidan to collect a bounty, but are kept in the dark as to who it is until you've nearly arrived at the destination. It turns out to be somebody unexpected and in order to buy some time for a little chat, you trick your comrades, only to get caught, and shortly thereafter tumble into a patch of self-doubt after a demonstration of power.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rhig: I was a liiiiiiiittle ADHD in this chapter. Sorry bout' that. I had fun. XDDD'

Blood Work

 

It was a matter of days before Tobi could move under his own power. However it took _weeks_ before he could walk unhindered by pain. You had done nothing to assist him except out of your room that day and instructed a servant to pull Tobi’s bed linens off his mattress and use them to clean his blood from your bedroom floor. You also told her not to bother washing or replacing them, unless she felt like putting them nicely back onto his bed, fitted sheet and all. She never commented.

That aside you saw hide nor hair of Tobi and he saw none of you, either. One afternoon when heading into the kitchen for a drink of water, you caught Konan with her usual slew of paperwork smeared out on the table and this is when you learned from her that Tobi was no longer in the building and apparently could walk without a limp now.

“Is that so,” You were smug. “Crying shame it didn’t take longer.”

Konan afforded you a skeptical glance before shuffling some papers around and putting them in another folder neatly. This was all Konan seemed to be doing anymore. Seldom was she out on missions. “I sincerely doubt that he is out for long, whatever he’s doing. I am equally unsure that who you caught was Madara. After all, we don't know for sure what he looks like under that mask, it could've been a body double.”

“Oh I agree.” You said after a mighty quaff of ice water, and then leaned against the island and watched her work. “He’s still very much a part of Akatsuki right?”

“No idea anymore. Madara could be here listening and we wouldn't know. But I maintain that you caught him way too easily."

“That’s true.” You assented in monotone, taking another swig of water and staring at the table blankly. This Madara business did not bode well; but then, it never has. Now you got the distinct impression that things were going to get vastly worse. Madara had vanished without a trace or indication as to where he’d be going. And honestly, you wouldn’t care if he wasn’t going to cause a problem that you’d need to mop up sooner or later. For now it was nothing except a cold comfort that he wasn’t around to make issues worse.

The days reeled by at the usual pace for a change. Whenever Itachi was nowhere to be found, as he was often on missions with Kisame now, you would pass the hours by remaking poisons that were at the end of their shelf lives. Aside from that, you stocked the fridge with bento boxes and trained when able. Pein would join you on occasion but for the most parts you were left to your own devices, and used this gap in your daily life as an opportunity to formulate new and deadly ways to utilize the Ghost Aspect. Hidan and Kakuzu were the best test subjects you could ask for. They were bored, skilled, and ‘impossible’ to kill by most people’s standards, plus they also had to train, and this counted. It was a good way to invent some new jutsus. But in exchange you had to deal with anything they might want. It was fine. Mainly Kakuzu threatened to drag your sorry ass out bounty hunting and Hidan pressured you into sacrificing yourself to Jashin same as he did. You have, five times to date, found yourself lying in the middle of a Jashinist diagram drawn in blood with a stake in your heart (hoping the gore stains would wash out of your brassieres), while your flesh agonizingly shifted into translucency. It kind of sucked, and you weren’t so a masochist like Hidan is, but it was a relatively minute price to pay for what you put _him_ through on a daily basis now.

Kakuzu decided though that one fine evening he'd make good on his threats, as the bounties were ripe for the plucking. A knock resounded at your door and you answered in your pajamas, which consisted of short-shorts and a t-shirt. He was unfazed by the amount of leg that he could see.  
“We’re going now.”

You raised your eyebrows and looked back over your shoulder into the darkness of your bedroom, to the tousled bed, then turned your head back to him. “It’s kind of late don’t you think? We’d make better progress at daybreak.” You loosed a big yawn. Having gone to bed about fifteen minutes ago, it wasn’t hard to be woken by a knock at the door.

“Either way we will be going.” He ground out, which normally would've been a resounding 'NO', but you decided not to be pushed into it. “We can start out tomorrow morning. Gives more of a chance to prepare. We’ll be out for awhile, right?” You stifled another yawn with your left wrist and he nodded his head once solemnly. You weren’t about to go track down ‘fellow’ criminals in the dead of night when you could be snoozing. It would take awhile to pick up their trails anyhow. And the new skills you refined consumed a great deal of energy and concentration, like most of your jutsus tend to. You had a flair for the dramatic…apparently. It was more that you had an interest in killing people (an occupational requirement/hazard) and developed skills which were not only quasi-artistic (by happenstance actually), but created to kill and nothing else. You were a woman of many extraordinary accomplishments, even transforming a plain field of arena sand into a massive glass landmark. You showed all witnesses involved that you could use each element. That you could coax those elements into any shape required at a whim, and could manipulate energy to such an extent that you needn't use your own chakra when enough free energy existed nearby; as well as showing that you’d become a good with a blade or two. You'd become notably ruthless and cruel, more than many dared to see in their most vile nightmares. These are exceedingly desirable characteristics for an Akatsuki. For a world-class weapon. _You_ are a force to be reckoned with.

This is exactly what many intend to do.  
And stepping outside the lair was simply an opportunity for those who would attempt to claim your life or talents. 

This night was spent wrestling your blankets in the female semblance of an amorous dream, where you couldn’t stop thinking of a certain someone. An area within your imagination where the pair of you were in a place you’ve never been before—some area of your mind’s making—and here, Itachi and you could be alone to do as you wanted. Which happened to be each other, and in this dream, you both did not leave the room for the better part of sunlit hours, feeling quite lazy and not in any specific need to get up and go. Twas' rather peculiar you could conjure any such images in your head at all, you never watched porn once and the only sex scenes you'd watched were in horror flicks...and those only used a few feathers, not the entire chicken. You didn’t know much about the stuff intimate couples do behind closed doors; only a very scant understanding of some acts. As such, in these dreams, things that were done were as vague as they were scandalous…and managed made you squirm, whimper, blush, and clutch the wad of blankets in a death grip composed of your whole body. A body that was barely touched in an intimate fashion yet craved that contact beyond a manner you could discreetly verbalize...except to say that you fucking _needed_ him now (probably because you want what you can't have at the moment), and this was making you a _liiiiiittle_ crazier than normal. But this felt blatantly abnormal. It was only driving you mad now because you've never been as attracted to somebody as you were when it came to him. There certainly had been some close calls in the past, but it never escalated too far. And, in hindsight, you weren't as interested in the others as you were in Itachi. He was the only guy you got involved with who didn't try to treat you like a piece of meat.

To digress, it was morning now. You were in the shower and hunched against the moistened wall, hating your imagination. Gradually, your physical need ebbed away and you gave a heroic effort to amass the will to venture out of the shower stall and get dressed. Then you had to begin gathering stuff together for the impending journey. Knowing Kakuzu and his abysmal skill with a map, there was no telling exactly how long this outing would take. 

Soon you'd finish rounding up some items into a scroll and the small packs on your ninja cargo belt. It’s a similar design to the ones other shinobi used, except made of leather instead of heavy gauge taupe canvas. This one was old and had been given to you by your father, saying it had once belonged to others ‘similar to yourself’. By this he meant the earlier Gyaku prodigies, your predecessors, handed down through the ages. A long-dead local artisan made it, and it was excellently crafted of rich brown leather, worn soft and flexible, scratched here and there and faded at the edges of the belt itself and corners of the pouches, the insides of which were lined with a material which had lost its color to the years and was stained in places from various fluids. The belt itself, if one cared to notice, had a deep-seated yet faint aroma of herbs, leather and metal. You adored this belt and it always had a place on your person amongst the senbon holsters and your dual blades. It was one of those things that never let you down to this day.

After your hair was merely a touch damp you decided to smooth it back into a ponytail, pulled your cloak on over some purple and black clothing, and then grasped your hat but carried it by your side for now after having locked up the room and went down the hall, wondering where you might be able to find Hidan or Kakuzu at this hour before sunrise.  
The corridors were vacant of life save for yourself. You went to the kitchen area to nab something for breakfast and wound up realizing you weren’t hungry to begin with; it was too early so you settled for an apple and nothing more. You stared at the weave of your hat while eating and upon whittling the fruit to the core with your teeth; tossed its excess and left the kitchen after taking a heavy draught of water. You felt dim and tired, but couldn’t keep your eyes closed for more than a few minutes or else you’d be seeing more risqué images inside your eyelids, despite your attempts to banish these cute ideas away....really, when did you become so desperately horny? If nothing else (since your a virgin) this could be an urge stemming from the primal reaches of your brain (excuses must be made). And it didn’t matter what you did now. Maybe this trip was going to prove useful in more than one sense; you could cool off and be distracted from Itachi, which, this attention towards him was due in part to how he wasn’t nearby these days. Because you wanted what you couldn’t have, that clawed at the interior of your conscious mind. A worrisome condition to be sure, as you aren’t notoriously the most _sane_ individual and are renowned as a psychopath with access to dangerous chemicals. 

Well. 

That’s how a many people thought of you anyway. They would write these things down in newspaper or magazine columns where reporters wanted opinions on current events. They would speak it out on late night talk shows; because, the populace wanted _more_ opinions…those who've got a set of balls, that is. Would you hear of it? Sometimes. Fortunately you didn’t have a television in your room, and only watched it when it happened to be in front of you, and evaded newspapers because most of that was a spray of platitudes from an ineffectual government printed on gray paper with ink that both smeared and stunk something terrible. 

Give us the alluring scent of his imperfect, scarred skin and his raven hair.

Give us fresh herbs, excellent food and drink, or the clean scent of steel. Offer the opportunity to smell the metallic tang of blood and fear, and the gurgle of crimson filling an adversary's lungs. Give us anything but the flimsy _crap_ that is the ‘lies’-paper (which had its uses but you still didn’t like it, so there).  
To digress yet _again_ …  
…Because you wanted to busy yourself with working on jutsus amongst other things you got to use Kakuzu and Hidan as test subjects at a price; and that brings you to the current situation. Now you were waiting for them outside and watching into the distance between trees, seeing the sun crop up and stain the horizon in radiant hues of pink, tangerine, and dusty purple fitting the crown of the sky tight as a skull-cap. Fall-bright leaves crackled with frost, and the forest was otherwise soundless. Something or someone had disturbed the insects and birds. A predator maybe. That predator could’ve been yourself or another shinobi. Or an animal. You’d listen and wait, unmoving and hidden. The red of your cloak blended easier now with autumn foliage and you barely needed to try camouflaging yourself. 

You waited. For how long you didn’t know. The only thing that showed up was Kakuzu and Hidan, leaving the place same way you had. Hidan’s loud mouth was what got your attention first, and you waited for them to keep walking. “That woman is nowhere!” Hidan fumed. “Great, now I have to deal with YOU the whole way!”

Kakuzu said nothing and paused to glance around. 

“Don't you care?” Hidan grumbled. Damn, what a grouch.  
“I am not concerned.”  
“Why?”  
“She's in the tree behind you.”

Hidan, at this, blinked and turned around, lowering his fist and looked up at the trees. You jumped down behind him and he turned back around to find himself nose-to-nose with you, and his face contorted sourly into disgust. “What the fuck is wrong with you?!”

“Would you like the list?” Kakuzu inquired smoothly, continuing foreword now. You flipped a glance his way before turning from Hidan and following. Kakuzu and humor. Somehow you figured it'd be an awkward combination. “Too quiet out here.” You told them, then added, “But on the bright side, Hidan's here, so problem solved.”

The other growled in response but went quiet, considering who it is, this is a miracle. It wouldn’t last too long. But that didn’t matter because you cleared your throat and voiced a thought with zero reservation as to whether it should be said or not.

“Kakuzu, if you ever decided to have a relationship someone, God forbid that they not want sex when you do, because there is nowhere they could hide where you won’t find them. _And_ you can tie them up. Hopefully they’re into, you know, _that_ kind of thing.”

Hidan snickered, remembering the time back in Anarchy where he woke up with your wakizashi shoved in his stomach. You were bruised, he was in pain, and you both might’ve been stark naked and rolling in the sheets if it weren’t for alcohol taking its toll when it did. Talk about ‘that’ kind of thing eh? “Where will we be going?”

“To do a bit of research.” Kakuzu surprised you with this answer. Amazingly, he didn't grace your comment with a retort. It was a bit of a disappointment. And here you were angling for a perfectly civil argument. Yeah, right...'civil arguments' with Kakuzu regularly ended in nothing less than fisticuffs and a strangled, dead partner. Until Hidan came along, whom he couldn't seem to be rid of due to that annoying immortality thing.

“What? Great, that piss-hole again?” Hidan grumbled.

“No.” Came Kakuzu’s brief reply. “It would helpful if we knew exactly where to look though.”

“Not too hard to figure out.” You deadpanned, eyes set ahead to the trunks of trees and scruffy bushes grown in the spaces between. Might not be fair to treat Hidan constantly as though he were a moron, but let’s face it. It is what it is and he opened himself up for insult more often than not, and that's hard to turn down; but you’ve been doing well as of late. Er. Better anyway. A little better. 

Hidan glowered and turned his head towards you, detecting an insult when you abruptly redirected your double meaning to cover your ass from a world of irritation on this trip. “These cash cows aren’t necessarily discreet. They will leave signs even if they try to dust their tracks, but otherwise, all we have to do is concentrate on sifting through local news where these people were last seen or are known to frequent certain areas, or have a specific M.O. and therefore leave a trail.” Why the hell were you looking for trouble this morning? Now wasn't the time for that.

“Not all of them are shinobi.” Kakuzu added. “Due to that, they could be very sloppy in this regard.”  
“Right, which may cut the work out for us.” You responded calmly. “We shall see.” 

Hidan grunted but otherwise didn’t indicate that he had thoughts on this subject. That or he was miffed. Its easy to get Hidan going. But like how you had been ‘better’ about harassing (hard-assing?) him, he had improved upon his temperament as well.  
Though not by much. Hidan wasn’t about to change himself for anybody but the one he worshipped so devoutly. 

The three of you carried on, using the tree branches to travel when the ground was too choked with roots and thorns, sailing along in leaps and bounds so it felt as if you were in flight, only touching down when you needed another boost onward an upward. The breeze streaming past your face was bitingly cold on this autumn day, and the leaves that had not yet fallen seemed too stiff to float away from where they remained loosely tethered to their twigs and branches. They quivered when passed in the short backlash wind created by three passing shinobi. More frost-stiffened leaves would disengage from their twigs and tumble down in a kind of awkward balletic grace. 

Your face was numbing with the icy air rushing by. Kakuzu was the only one out of the three who wore facial protection always; though for him it was more of a means to conceal the secret of his technique and the truth of what he is. You wished you wore at least a mask over the lower section of your face but most of the time didn’t think of it. You had a few such masks since you used to be an ANBU operative way back when. They were an irritant to wear for one unaccustomed to them, but served their function nonetheless. 

Hours passed without a spoken word, Kakuzu had taken point once he saw a change of direction was in order and you and Hidan dropped back far enough to be warned when he decided to switch direction again. You wondered what the others were thinking about, but not enough to try using that limited 'telepathy', it only worked on louts like Killer Bee anyhow. Everybody must have something else on their mind other than this trip. Kakuzu’s attention waned once or twice, as he doubled back once and had to change direction sharply to the west at another juncture.

Was there something going on that you just didn’t know about? _Would_ you know before it was too late? Were you maybe bored enough to form all but the word ‘conspiracy’ in your head? Idle hands lead to trouble…and the human mind at rest lends itself to chaos.

Settle down. Follow. The trees are thinning; watch your strides. Don’t stumble. Don’t miss a beat. Focus on Kakuzu; but never lower your guard. You’re far into enemy territory.  
Is it a group of nations that is the enemy?  
Or is it the whole world?

It got to a point where the trees thinned to a jagged hairline that marched towards some mountains; evidently this had been a lush woodland in the past. This area was deadened by a fire and had yet to see any new growth, though it's now autumn...not even a sign of young grass, which should've poked its tiny blades up through gray-brown soil that sunk dully around the bases of blackened, lifeless trees. The burnt stench didn't linger here any longer though, except for when you blasted by a thin tree trunk that, having edged close enough, smelled of carbon, if that’s what the stink was. 

This terrain was a bleak stretch and with no end in sight. There was also a big hollow in the ground which Kakuzu led the cell around the rim of. It was once a small lake or a huge pond; blighted dry by sun or other means. You didn’t know where you were on the map. This was new land. And it didn’t want to end. Whatever killed off the life in this place spread far and wide. It could’ve been from the Ninja Wars. It could’ve been a drought fire, plain and simple. But so far you’d be left alone since there was no reason anyone would want to stay out here. There’s no water. No food. A resource desert, unless you _wanted_ charred wood or sterile ground. 

As you thought of that you found yourself following Kakuzu down a shallow decline which wavered from side to side indecisively. There were no trees within its length and breadth; and it was lined with striations and dried rubble that marked this as a former riverbed. Hidan ran nearby, leaping over any ruts in the ‘road’ and landing sometimes on your opposite side. He was bored and might’ve wanted to say something but even he noticed it. This place, despite being dead, would still have the usual creatures prowling about or scavenger birds overhead. But there were no insects. There was nothing. There _had been nothing_ since the cell entered this place. It meant there was some severely wrong element at work here.

At once you made up your mind to shoot ahead towards Kakuzu, grasp his arm tightly and forcibly haul him aside near the right side of the riverbed. And Hidan came to a rest beside you both as well, a bit nonplussed by the abrupt halt. 

“Kakuzu, where are we going?” You ground out through gritted teeth, eyes boring harsh as the sun into his strange orbs. It was getting warmer out now that it was somewhere past noon judging from the sun’s position in the sky. There’s not much shade out here either, but the autumn chill of today was enough to balance out into a decent temperature that was somewhere in-between. 

Kakuzu grasped your wrist and pried your fingers from his cloak. Surprisingly, he didn't try and strangle you for manhandling him. “There’s a rumor,” He began slowly, modulating his voice so it wouldn’t carry. A sound could carry for miles out here, there was nothing left to absorb it. “That Orochimaru isn’t dead.”

If he hadn’t already peeled your hand off, it would’ve dropped away in shock. But you kept composed and shook your head. “No.....no. Physically impossible. There's no way that could be so.”

“That’s what I intend to find out.” He answered calmly. Hidan looked between you both and said, “What are you saying Kakuzu?”

“Kabuto is still alive?” He asked you pointedly, ignoring Hidan. His eyes bore relentlessly into your own. Kakuzu certainly had an intense gaze.

A hesitation, then... “To my knowledge, yes.” You admitted reluctantly, eyes searching his now without an ounce of anger. At first you had wondered if he was suggesting that you lied. But that wasn’t possible since back then Sasori manipulated you when you couldn’t do it yourself. Diedara had been a witness, but since they work together, he could hardly corroborate the story. A team from Konoha had _also_ acted as witnesses. And Sasuke. He had been there too.

Sasuke…

It dawned on you and the color must have drained out of your face because both of them actively noticed, surprise and curiosity registering in both of their expressions.  
“What?” Hidan asked. “What's that look for?”

“When Madara sent me on that mission,” You began, feeling stunned. “I went to the Sound Ruins and met with Uchiha Sasuke. I worked with them there for quite awhile, that’s where I was if you both didn’t hear.” Your eyes moved from Hidan to Kakuzu’s. “Kabuto _was_ there. He'd been doing something that required a lot of power, making human batteries by filtering siphoned chakra from ‘false jinchuuriki’ through a specialized air system into a room packed full of test subjects. He did this to multiply the amount of energy he could have available.”

“Yes. You spoke of this before.” Kakuzu said.

“Yeah. But Konan and I didn’t realize its actual purpose, and that was before I saw it myself.” You lowered your gaze away for a moment, and thoughtfully touched your lower lip. “They were ones like those humans infected by demons during the wars. Stained by them and generating power not their own. Demon’s chakra can fester and grow and eventually be used by those who sought such power. Kabuto either tricked Sasuke into thinking he’d need all that power to revive the Uchiha Clan for his purpose; or Sasuke already knew Kabuto’s plans and was in on it. He must’ve been planning on using that ridiculous amount of chakra to do something involving Orochimaru. But I can’t for the life of me figure out how he’d’ve survived what I put him through. He’s _more_ than just dead and buried you know. But when I made a comment to Sasuke on the whole thing, about how those fake jinchuuriki weren't being used to help with the revival, he was actually _surprised_." It was striking, every part of it. How could this have happened? "If that wasn't a warning sign, I don't know what is, but at that point there was no turning back. But I ordered my guys to kill off the false jinchuuriki and the human experiments too. Even gave them something to get the job done proper. And that's assuming Kabuto didn't catch them in the process.”

Their eyes were on you solemnly, but you weren’t looking back anymore. You were lightning struck. Ashamed. Rooted to the spot in realization. Realization at what your own people might’ve been used to make possible. At what you might’ve helped make possible yourself.

Your gaze widened upon an innocent pebble, and you continued. “Kabuto wasn’t always there. He would run some kind of errand very often…every other day or two at the most, and wouldn’t return for equally as long. And of course Uchiha wasn’t willing to tell me anything when I asked about the jinchuuriki; but we were led to believe that they actually had only one, not some crappy fakes.”

“To lure Akatsuki in. Likely in order to obtain you.” Kakuzu said.

You snorted. “And it worked. But only because Madara sent me and I had a little something of my own to deliver to Sasuke. With Itachi’s regards of course.” You crossed your arms a little insecurely. “When we put two and two together, it makes sense that Kabuto could very well have been moving between bases and seeing to Orochimaru’s recovery. Maybe even preparing a new body for him.”

“He’s very difficult to be rid of.” Kakuzu answered calmly. “No one believed for a minute that he was absolutely dead and gone. When he never came back it seemed true.”

“Fuck!!!!” You swore, one fist knotted at your side so hard that if you weren't wearing the usual gloves, you would've bled. Hidan smirked. “One would _think_ that those people would realize they are free from that Hebi-teme. Why wouldn’t they run with it?!”

Kakuzu supplied a useful answer though. “There are always those who remain loyal and Kabuto is one of them. He has betrayed hundreds for Orochimaru’s sake, even pretending to be subordinate to Sasori, tricking him to Orochimaru’s benefit. He will do anything to see his master’s wishes fulfilled.”

“…” You exchanged glances with Hidan, whose smirk grew into a broad, toothy smile and he loosed out some of his trademark maniacal laughter. Neither needed to say anything to that. But both of you were probably thinking of just how perverted that could be.  
“Don’t forget.” Kakuzu reminded you both as you belatedly donned a grin of your own and snickered with Hidan. “This is a rumor. We don’t know for certain yet.”

“Heheh…yeah. I know.”

“You sound disappointed.”  
“No, no. I’m not.” You said. “Would be better that he stayed dead.”

But Kakuzu shocked both of you with the next thing that came out of his covered mouth.

“Either way, this isn’t your fault Saiya.”  
You were left blinking as he turned and started out again. Hidan shot you a look and followed and you were nearly left behind if you hadn’t powered after them fast as your legs could propel you. Kakuzu was right...as usual. You were weaker back then. Orochimaru isn’t someone just anyone can fight alone, and you also needed help much to your distaste. If it wasn’t for Sasori you weren’t sure how it would’ve turned out. You’d probably be long dead. And if it wasn’t for Deidara carrying you away on his clay hawk, you would’ve been taken into custody by Konoha…or Sasuke. And then, there’s Kabuto too. What if he had his own agenda all this time? What if _he_ tried to capture you for himself?

How different would life be if any of those things happened? Where would your loyalties lie? How would you have changed as a person? Would you be dead or alive right now? Would you be falling for another man instead?

Great, what’s next? The meaning of life?  
No thanks.

You followed them again and hoped that Orochimaru wasn’t going to be at the end of this road, in a test tube or otherwise. He’s a damned pestilence and if it was truly not done already, an end had to be put to him. Hebi-teme despised you with every putrid fiber of his being. This hatred would reverberate deeper and further if he was still alive in some form.  
But there was also this sick curiosity inside you.

You had questions. You wondered if eternal life was possible to obtain through medicine. Resilient to death as you were, you aren’t immune to age. But Orochimaru had created for himself a method of living forever, ostensibly at least. It consumed the better part of his life and he bent himself on discovering whatever secret it was that allowed him to shed bodies like a snake’s skin. 

“Hey. Kakuzu.” Hidan barked. “I thought we didn’t know where the fuck we were going in the first place.”

“I had an idea. Which is why we are here.”

“It’d be nice if you’d tell us what the fuck we're doing once in a fucking while. If this is another one of your detours I’ll rip _both_ of your fricken' hearts out!!”

You muttered under your breath, mockingly, “Fuckfuckfrick, fuck fuck. Frick. Fuck.”

“Sounds like FUN!” Hidan burst out, leaping over to your other side again and then braced his heels against the ground as the riverbed took a sharper downward turn, then he crouched and shot ahead, leaping high, the old sediment giving way to large rough rocks that would’ve made rapids out of calm water. It was angling towards a waterfall. As you ran and ran and leapt and ran some more your mind was slowly drawing back memories of past conversations. At Sasuke’s base you had spoken with your people, and acknowledged even then that it was possible Orochimaru was alive. That was more shit to handle. Other times throughout the past you remembered there were hints foreshadowing that Orochimaru couldn’t possibly be dead. That he was merely dormant.  
Oh, for fuck’s sake, you hoped not though, now more than ever. He’s a royal pain in the ass to deal with for anyone and you admitted (inwardly) that you got lucky back then. Surviving up until the point where Sasori intervened did have much to do with ability, but it was also more that you had to watch every little thing that happened and be careful. Your awareness was what spared you for the most parts, and a determination to win. It wasn’t pure cunning. Sasori had wasted a lot of chakra on Sigils you never activated before then; the initial activation of them set you back a lot of energy. That, to say the least, was distressing. He was able to see into your arsenal and use what he pleased, taking out weapons you didn't thoroughly understand back then. And out of pride you didn't want to buckle under pressure and inquire after how he did that when you yourself were only just beginning to understand those abilities after years of having that knowledge sealed up tight.

Now of course you’ve progressed very VERY far since then, had refined techniques and amassed plenty of chakra and gained so much more battle experience. But Orochimaru had underestimated you once already. If he was alive, and your rationality kept insisting upon the possibility that he _is_ , Orochimaru would not make the same mistake again.

The cell was upon the edge of the waterfall cliff now. It had long ago gone dry as the rest of the river; and down in the pool it once crashed against was a building. You had hoped nothing would be there but you had the same sinking feeling that poured through your body like blood through your veins. It was a long jump and the three of you bounded between boulders and rocky outcroppings on either side of the dried falls on the way down, the fabric of your cloaks rustling noisily. Upon meeting the bottom the cell paused, since Kakuzu wasn’t budging from the spot he landed on. 

“We couldn’t have picked a more obvious spot to enter here from.” He drawled.  
“Couldn’t’a found an easier spot either, dammit. Let's keep going.” Hidan snorted, casting his purple gaze around. This dried water bed had been an irregular shape. It continued underground from here, you could see a dark opening on the other side that was partially obscured by rock debris. But that was just how this lake had once been fed, aside from the waterfall. Built down in the middle of this lake bed was that building you saw before and it was the same color as the rocks: a tan so sun-bleached it was practically white. The rock rubble all around it nearly camouflaged its existence entirely; the only thing revealing that it was a building is the straight lines that marked the edges of its walls.

“I wonder how long this place has been like this.” You remarked.

“A very long while.” Kakuzu said, moving foreword. 

“Think they have a front door or something?”

“Ah what the hell, lets just make one ourselves!” Hidan declared.

You twitched and wondered if he understood how to modulate his voice in a place that echoed.

After scouring the area you all came to the conclusion that yes, either a door must be made, or the entrance was through that cave outlet over yonder. But you were getting as impatient as Hidan and now, sweltering under the accumulating heat of the day in your black cloak, feeling like this place wasn’t subject any longer to the autumn coolness, you decided you’d make a door yourself; and blasted a hole through under one of the straight edges of the irregular-shaped building. You and Hidan coughed and swore, Kakuzu had been wise and stood back (facial mask and all) and when the dust settled, you peered in and caught sight of firelight further down the cramped corridor. You leapt down and began beating dust from your black and red cloak. 

“Okay. Now to explore.” You whispered to them after they hopped inside. The torches in here weren’t lit…or were put out by the blast of air let into the hall from that hole. “So you’re sure he’s here?” You asked Kakuzu, who scoffed and didn't bother modulating his voice. “Probably not _anymore_.” Was taking you not such a wise idea after all?

“Here, I’ll make this easier.” You said, and a couple handsigns later, had five shadow clones standing around you. After which, you did three more handsigns, then slammed a palm into the ground, which shook the immediate area with a short tremor. When Hidan and Kakuzu could see through the dust cloud that was once again kicked up, they saw six ghosts in place of yourself and the five clones.

“What the fuck? That’s a new one...”

You motioned to the clones to move out and they did, flying off through walls in search. You meanwhile walked along with Hidan and Kakuzu. “If Hebi-teme is alive,” You began, voice disembodied. “Then it’s best we stick together. Clones are ideal for search parties anyway and as soon as they find Kabuto-- _if_ he's here—I’ll know right away, and can track the clone from then on.”

“You’re making this into more than it is.” Kakuzu deadpanned.  
“Look, I know what it is to fight him. I couldn’t do that alone and I don’t want to chance him actually _being_ here and turning things from decent to bad.”

“You’re acting fucked up, Saiya.”

“You. Weren’t. _There_.”

Hidan and Kakuzu exchanged a glance. You were acting a hair overly cautious, or maybe not. But something about having dug up the past and making you think about it now came across as a very bad thing. You were so embarrassed by memories of yourself in the past that you were being a mix of careful and overzealous. Smashing a hole in a wall only alerts to one’s presence. Creating ghost-clones…then saying, being a ghost yourself, that you don’t want to risk encountering Hebi-teme alone. What the hell was up with you right now, anyway? Were you THAT embarrassed about the past?

Although, they hadn’t been there and they didn’t hear what really happened of course. You had a lot to be ashamed of in your own head. Or maybe you were just being too self critical.  
But your mind kept stepping back to the facts. Sasuke had been shocked that those false jinchuuriki had nothing to do with his clansmen’s revival. If so, then why were they there? Kabuto would’ve used any facility he could get. Surely Orochimaru’s in-tact bases would have what he needed. Unless it was protection that he required and Sasuke really _did_ get involved somehow? But…Sasuke had his own issues going. Based on what you knew of his personality, you believed he wouldn’t get involved in anything he didn’t view as his fight. Was that accurate?  
Even if you spoke to his brother about it, Itachi likely wouldn’t know, on account of not living with him for years. But it might not hurt to ask Itachi next time you met up. There are a handful people in this world that know Sasuke extraordinarily well. Itachi was sort-of one of them.

Another would be Uzumaki Naruto.

Your glowing purple eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly and you continued to follow along with Hidan and Kakuzu, the cell of three rushing through small fire-lit corridors in catlike stealth. Only certain halls had lit torches. Those would be the ones that had some use to them. So for now, the party went with that assumption, pushing into rooms, finding nothing, then moving on. This was a residential quarter. So far about eleven of the rooms displayed signs of life, but no one was in them, and no sounds echoed in the halls. They might’ve been scared off, or left before now anyway…or were at work.  
Or dead.

 

_Simultaneously…_

 

Hidan and Kakuzu had been tricked. You made more than five clones. There was actually ten of them, and the other five had been invisible ghosts and were moving through the halls with ease, scanning through the rooms, finding nothing at first.

But then one clone did find something of interest, way on the other end of the building, one floor down. There was glow from a set of double doors, one door in particular was dented and sat askew on its hinge with rusty stains streaked across the front. But when the clone floated through the intact door, she saw that this room was indeed in use, and was plenty full of many kinds of instruments. At the left side of the room was three floor-to-ceiling human-sized ‘test tubes’. On the right were surgery tables and plenty of gleaming steel instruments under high, unforgiving light.

At the very back of the room was a set of tables lined with many types of flasks and vials and steaming liquids. And there stood a young man with his pale hair tied back into a low ponytail. He wore a bloodstained white lab coat and hadn’t noticed he was being watched until the ghost clone made herself solid. Then he straightened visibly a moment later and turned around.

 _’This chakra…’_ He thought. _’…I know it well.’_ He turned to look at the clone, his round glasses gleaming in the reflection of florescent lightning. 

“Gyaku Saiya.” He began, a frown creasing his forehead. 

“You weren’t expecting company.” The clone responded emotionlessly.

After a minute, “No.” He placed a glass rod in a beaker and stirred the contents, then held it up to the light. It was a little darker in the center of this room. Some of the lights were broken and one off to the side near a cage was hanging smashed by a tangle of wires. Occasionally, it gave a dying flicker. There was also some dried gore splattered in a line from floor, to wall, to ceiling just to the left of the tables covered with chemistry. A stool lay on its side nearby, and there were a handful of kunai embedded in the wall beside that same busted door. More blood was dried black on the floor near there, and sprayed up the wall.

The clone turned her head towards the big test tube vats and sturdy cages, and then looked back at Kabuto. “Only you here?” She asked.

“No.” He said again, continuing his work. “But I expected I’d hear from you eventually, Gyaku Saiya. After all, you figured out that not everything was as it seemed.”

“Look,” The clone began. “People are talking about the possibility that Orochimaru may still be alive. I know you probably won’t answer me straight, but is this so?”

Kabuto lifted his head to examine the clone for a moment, then bent back to his work of mixing chemicals. You heard an indistinct hiss. “In some form he is. Within Sasuke.”

“What?”

“Sasuke is a serpent summoner himself.” Kabuto said calmly. “His contract with Manda was an insurance policy of sorts. And Sasuke can actually call upon Manda unlike most. However, Sasuke and Orochimaru had a disagreement of their own; and Sasuke believed he had won…until Orochimaru revealed himself again on that very same day that you arrived to kill him and claim his ring.” His eyes, behind those gleaming glasses, stole towards the clone’s hand. The left little finger is where that ring is worn, and he could see it now.

“I don’t need to explain the details to _you_ , Gyaku Saiya. You should understand already.”

The clone kept her face impassive. As emotionless as Kabuto also acted.  
You both weren’t so different. And that became more and more apparent.

Both of you had your loyalties to someone…a person neither of you would defy. For him, it was Orochimaru. For you, it is Pein.  
Both of you were in medicine. Pioneers in the field, practically.  
Both of you were stone cold killers.  
And both of you did what you felt had to be done.

But you knew how to catch him off guard. And so you’d ask a question that burnt at you for the longest time now.  
“Did either of you ever discover the secret to eternal life and youth, Kabuto?”

As it turned out, he only smirked knowingly, looking up at the clone now from over the top of his round glasses, which inadvertently made him appear sinister. He wasn’t surprised at all. In fact…unless you were incorrect…he appeared to of been _waiting_ for you to ask that.

“We’re nearly there now.” The other medic responded, smugly. “We could always use some help, you know.”

“Huh…’We’, eh? So he _is_ alive.”

“In some form.” Kabuto reiterated. “But he can’t take shape yet. Not until Sasuke is desperate enough.”

“He’ll need a body, Kabuto.”

“Indeed.” He turned his head towards the wall of the fractured entry, eyes following towards another door a few feet away. This one looked like a sort of vault. “But I’m working on that.”

“I see.” The clone had turned her head to check what he was looking at. Strange that he was so open about this, but then again, maybe it wasn't so odd. “So give me a good reason now not to let them know where you are…and perhaps I’ll get the other Akatsuki to hunt someone else.”

Kabuto looked up at the clone, making eye contact, and lowered his chin, cautiously swallowing some saliva.  
He narrowed his eyes.

 

_With You…_

 

“Anything?” Kakuzu asked you, looking your way out the corner of an eye. Momentarily you debated with yourself. Was it a good idea to tell them yet?  
But upon arguing both sides in your own mind (confusing, but doable) you stopped inwardly bickering and settled upon a neutral compromise. This way you wouldn’t lie, or tell the truth. You could simply give them nothing for now. Though omission of a truth is still falsehood.

“I’m not sure.” You said, disembodied. “It’s hard to say.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Hidan rumbled.  
“If I had that answer…” You mumbled indirectly, and sunk lower behind your translucent collar. They’d be uncertain of course.  
But then you stopped, stiffened. An expression of shock passed your features.

Hidan and Kakuzu paused to turn and look at you curiously, their suspicion gathering.

 

_With the Clone…_

Kabuto and Clone Saiya stared at one another, the clone awaiting an answer.

“Got anything?” She goaded flatly.

“…” Kabuto said nothing, and resumed mixing liquids with a glass rod. A thin wisp of steam issued upwards near his face, and he looked up to respond, but froze. Clone Saiya quirked an eyebrow and turned to follow his gaze.

There, she saw Itachi and Kisame.

“Well that’s unexpected, heheh.” Kisame commented, smirking. “What’re you doing here Saiya?”

“Uh…” Clone Saiya blinked. “...I think that’s supposed to be my line.”

“A topic for later.” Itachi said icily, walking foreword, past the clone, which turned her head, following him with glowing eyes. Kisame reached back and placed a hand on Samehada, and the moment Kabuto saw this, he interpreted it as his cue to move it or lose it. No one in Akatsuki is dispatched for grunt work. They come and go with a purpose. In this case, if Kisame was going to pull that sword on him, it was serious and he couldn’t chance anything. He had been doing the cliché thing and mixing together a liquid smoke bomb. With a sigh, he shifted to slide the glass stirring rod along the rim of the beaker to remove the last drop of fluid, then set it down, but as he did so, he looked upwards for the moment to pinpoint the location of his enemy…in doing so, he found himself making eye contact with Itachi’s Sharingan.

Kabuto didn’t have a chance to twitch a muscle or think a thought from that moment on.

 

Kisame sighed resignedly and dropped his hand back down from Samehada's handle, walking inside the room and glancing from side to side. “Welp', that’s about taken care of, huh? Let’s have a look around.”

“You’re here on orders right?” Clone Saiya inquired.

“Yeah. What’s your excuse?”

“A favor, I suppose.” Clone Saiya went the opposite direction, heading towards that door Kabuto indicated earlier. 

“Oh? A favor?” Kisame pressed. 

“I worked on some techniques with Hidan and Kakuzu.” You admitted. “These jutsus turned out to be extremely painful, and I couldn’t just practice them on clones because I needed feedback. So I used the guys for it, and in turn, am working with them to capture some bounties. Side-income for the organization, I guess.”

“Oh yeah.” He said, almost mildly. “That’s Kakuzu’s job. He helped you with yours so it makes sense that you return the favor. Kabuto is worth a lot of money I hear…heheh…too bad." 

"Yeah," Clone Saiya echoed in agreement, turning away. "He’ll be useless once Itachi’s finished having his way with him, so to speak.” Both of you paused to turn and look at Itachi and Kabuto. Kabuto was beginning to shake under the pressure of the Sharingan. Itachi was making it last as long as he possibly could. If he utilized the Tsukiyomi…even Kabuto, Orochimaru’s primary subordinate, wouldn’t be able to keep mentally stable throughout the duration of the jutsu. He would fall apart and be a useless mess.  
While Kabuto’s body began to involuntarily quiver under the tremendous mental/spiritual stress, Itachi remained rock solid and untouched. 

_’He’s improved too.’_ You thought, and Clone Saiya went to that door finally and grasped the handle. It was circular, a sort of lock-handle that had to be turned 180 degrees before aligning with the deadbolt. When this was done, the handle popped up and became level with the surface of the door, and the seal around the door released and out pushed a gush of refrigerated air from around the threshold. Clone Saiya perceived that Kisame had come over to see what was going on, since Itachi’s ordeal was boring at the moment.

The door was then opened by pulling on the longer handle below the circular lock. 

Inside was darkness, but you felt for a switch and soon found it. There was a sheaf of white frost on the switch plate, and it was a little difficult to flip on. But it would work and the room was illuminated from the ceiling. 

Inside sat a few steel vats along the left wall. The right side of this long rectangular room was cluttered with tables loaded with vials, flasks and beakers of varying fluid. There was one stand full to capacity of other vials too, a little larger than the others nearby. You moved closer and identified it as blood. Each had different names, with some extra information written underneath…such as blood type, and occupation, and country. Even what city that person lived at. You frowned at these. 

“Kabuto’s been very busy I see.” You remarked pointlessly, turning to look at Kisame, who had moved to the large steel vats. They were about 4 feet high…chest-height to you. He looked straight down at the lid of the middle one. It had notations written along the edge of the lid in red, some were scratched out towards the end and corrected in black ink. There was also a clip-board sitting on top. It was so scribbled upon, and so many words condensed down to abbreviations, you could make no sense of it at all. “Yeah.” Kisame answered thoughtfully. “What’s it look like to you?”

“Huh?”

“You’re a medic, right?"

“Oh.” So that’s what he meant. The amount of attention you were splitting between clones and yourself was beginning to tax you a bit. “Hard to say. It’s written down in shorthand. I can understand some of it, seems like his version isn't too different from mine. If I knew exactly what was in these I could tell you for sure. But…” Clone Saiya fitted her fingers under the lid and felt around. Sure enough there was a locking mechanism, and this one had a keyhole. Upon moving around to the other ones, she found that each of them were exactly the same. “Whatever they are he doesn’t want anybody getting in.” Kisame remarked.

“No. That’s not it. There isn’t anybody here aside from Kabuto, or if there was, they’re long gone. This is one of many clones searching the building.” Clone Saiya knelt down and examined the lock to the vat on the end. “These vats are definitely large enough to put a body inside. And Kabuto already sort-of admitted working on a body for Orochimaru. It could be preserved corpses…or, he could be incubating _new_ bodies. But it’s cold in here. So I believe it is the former, not the latter. The chill in this room is enough to slow down the process of decay. That’s why morgues are kept at a low temperature, but this place isn't equipped like a morgue, so he must've had to make do.” You took out a couple senbon and slid them into the keyhole, trying to discern a way in which to unlock it. Kabuto didn’t have keys in here…and you rapidly discovered that you were lame at lock picking. 

“So how long were you guys listening?” Clone Saiya asked.

“We followed you down here.”

Where you were with Hidan and Kakuzu, you paled a little but continued to walk. Thankfully, being translucent, the change in color was not noticeable. These clones weren't perfect so it didn't notice that it was being followed. Kisame and Itachi were purposefully keeping themselves undetectable so Kabuto wouldn't take wise.

“Ah.”

“Eternal life, huh?” Kisame reflected aloud, moving between tables of covered flasks and beakers, examining their contents but not really touching anything. “That what you’re aiming for?”

Even through this clone you could detect that the laughter was gone from Kisame. It had been so before, and was so now, but was currently more noticeably than usual. “Strictly out of medical curiosity, Kisame. It's what a lot of people want. I can pull a person’s soul back into their body and regenerate their wounds and chakra…I can do a lot of things. The one thing that has eluded me however is eternal life and youth. I wasn't confident that it is actually possible.” You were trying to skip around the answer a bit. He wanted to know if that’s what _you_ wanted. But come to think of it, as you looked up to see Itachi step in through the door, you wondered.

Was this really a good idea?

“Found out what you need?” Kisame asked.  
“Yes.” Itachi responded readily. “This building should be destroyed. He is working to restore Orochimaru.” His hard ruby eyes slid towards the steel vats, and also over towards the various vials, lastly to your clone.

“Ugh...wait, wait.” The clone gave up on picking the lock. “Kakuzu, Hidan and I are here for Kabuto. We need to take him along, preferably alive.”  
“He's dead.” Itachi now had a voice like black ice. You winced and went to the door. He continued to obscure the Clone’s way until finally deciding to barely shift back and let her through.

Kabuto was laying face-down in a puddle of his own blood, with a stab wound through his heart. The clone picked him up awkwardly. You had a feeling that whoever his body was turned in to would want their money back after finding out that his brain was no longer intact whatsoever. Itachi had taken his sweet time. But judging from how said Uchiha was acting, you got the impression that he didn’t desire to leave Kabuto’s merest, most base thoughts salvageable. 

“So you said that you're here with Kakuzu and Hidan right?” Kisame asked.  
“Yeah. I’m going back to them now.”  
“We’re done here.” He turned his head towards Itachi. “Maybe the five of us should head back.”  
Itachi closed his eyes and went into the hallway. Both of you took it as ‘yes’.

“I dunno.” Said your voice from the end of the hallway as the two men and corpse-bearing clone stepped out into the hall. “I thought we were going for more than this guy, weren’t we Kakuzu?”

“That was the plan.” He confirmed.  
Hidan was displeased. “Aaaah come _on_ , what the fuck?! You kept us in the dark the whole damn time?!”

“It was a somewhat delicate matter and you’re not the delicate type Hidan. I knew you’d get stir-crazy and do something regrettable.” You said, watching Clone Saiya move closer with the body. With two handseals you made all the clones vanish, and Kabuto’s body dropped heavily to the ground. There he began to warm a spot on the floor with his blood dripping out slowly. You solidified then. Twas' easier to stay in ghost form these days, with practice, but you could not sustain it for a span of hours at a time. Not yet anyway. 

“We must leave.” Itachi said, a touch forcibly, and Kakuzu picked up the bloodied corpse. Even if Kabuto had by some freak manner survived a wound to the heart, he had bled too much by now. And his mind was shattered. He had nothing anymore. His body was shot, his brain was mush. Kabuto is effectively dead now. And even you were satisfied after feeling for a pulse of chakra and blood. There was nothing. 

So then the group left and went up to level ground at the lip of the lake basin. Itachi paused and turned, then activated his Mangekyou. 

You heard, in your mind rather than with your ears, his voice as he spoke one word that is capable of decimating miles upon miles of land.

_/Amaterasu./_

Your amethyst eyes widened at the sight of black fire erupting forth over the building. It began to dissolve into ash, and might take awhile to do so, but this was the one sure way for everything in that place to be irrevocably destroyed. There was no contest.  
No known force could quench Amaterasu’s undeniable power, at least none that anyone knew about.

This was your first chance to see it. All those training sessions with Itachi and the most you dealt with was his Tsukiyomi on occasion which was not nothing of course. But _now_ you understood how easy he had been going on you. Itachi was the type of shinobi who had such attacks in his arsenal that made it very tasking for him not to overdo it and slaughter his opponent with a mere _glance_ in their direction. If his lethal gaze lingered more than a moment, they would expire. Simple as that.

You fumed inwardly and put a lid on your emotions, regressing fast into the poker face normally reserved for fighting. For all your power, you didn’t feel like nothing, but you sure as hell felt stupid. A jutsu only has as much power as one is capable of putting behind it. There aren’t a lot of shinobi out there who can burst a crater in the ground with a single attack.  
Here, Itachi was literally dissolving the solid rock of an entire building. With a glance. _A fucking glance!_  
And Pein-sensei, he has laid waste to entire cities on his own as well with the flick of a hand, or so you've heard, but never seen.

It was maddening. And sickening. Oh, you could do a lot of severe damage when compared to most. But this was one of those things that had you remembering you are a medic first and foremost.

Wait, was it maddening or humbling?  
You could answer that later. 

With a burning building left behind, black flame licking the air and making it acrid, the team left for a place where this corpse could be turned in.


	39. Bad Signs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Itachi and Kisame reveal that they are in the midst of a certain mission at Pein's behest. Once the group returns to headquarters there's a nasty surprise, and shortly thereafter it's time for a showdown against Madara.
> 
> Except, a mysterious individual appears...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rhig: My playlist has a peculiar sense of humor. It popped up with 'Search and Destroy' by Skunk Anansie while writing the fight scene. o_O
> 
> Kakuzu: She doesn't own Naruto.
> 
> Rhig: *hands him a briefcase of money* Thanks. And a word on the character that appears at the end; she's the reader character of another Naruto Shippuden fanfic I was working on for awhile there, a Kakashi X Reader fic. I'm aware that she seems a bit...ahem...ridiculous, but there is indeed a reason why she is the way she is. Don't worry, there's more to it than this, but there won't be much of anything revealed about her until StR 2. Speaking of which, we're coming up on the end of StR 1!! As always, thanks for the reads, comments, kudos and so on. <3

Bad Signs

 

The turn-in point for the corpse stunk of decay. You stayed outside with Itachi, Kisame and Hidan while Kakuzu went in to give the body in exchange for money. He didn’t seem bothered by the lack of company inside. It was actually a pain to get into the exchange place and you four were standing around outside in the heart of the forest looking silly with nothing to do. Kakuzu arrived in sight about a half hour later with a black briefcase in hand. He seemed mildly surprised to see that Kisame and Itachi stuck around.

“You’re staying with us?” He asked.

“Hn, yea. We have orders to return to base.” Kisame informed. “That’s enough for now.” His dead shark’s eyes moved to the briefcase. “No detours.”

“Whaaaaat?! We came way the fuck out here for only one?!” Hidan exploded.

“Yes.” Itachi replied, his tone clipped. 

“For fuck’s sake...” Hidan growled.

“I know how you feel.” You voiced. “It’s a long-ass distance to travel for one bounty. Two is okay, but one is plain annoying. At least its for a fair profit.” You pushed off from the tree you’d been leaning against and walked closer to the others, your footsteps making no sound against the moist ground. This was a very shady area beneath tree boughs and received relatively minimal sunlight. The ground was covered with mossy growth and sodden leaves.

“Orders are orders.” Kakuzu said emotionlessly. He probably didn’t like this either. But it would be fine. Neither himself or Hidan really got to do anything much these days with the felons keeping their heads down. It sucked for them, considering that both would probably like to stretch their limbs for awhile longer, or have some kind of challenge involved in this trip. The most they got to do is run around this once. Yourself and Itachi did basically all the work.

The group took off through the forest and headed towards the base. It was a lot of ground to cover. The return trip was going to be longer because the corpse exchange was further out than that place in the dried up lake. As you leapt high above the canopy for a chance to see how long the trees went on for, you could see a pillar of smoke in the distance which marked where you had once been. Upon falling back through the tree tops and landing on a wide branch, then springing ahead to draw level with Itachi (who had taken point far ahead of the group) and remarked (a little scathingly), “Nice job. Now the authorities will definitely have a starting point.”

“We haven’t left a trail.”

“What about his blood?”

“…” He didn't really want to be doing this right now. He knew damn well no blood trail was left, or shouldn't have been anyhow.

“Didn’t think of that?”

“What makes you believe we are being followed?” He countered.

“Because we’re wanted people and there’s a mysterious pillar of smoke in the air from the middle of nowhere?”

He decided to disregard this issue now. Openly, even. He flat out didn’t respond to that.

“Itachi?”

“Hm?”

“Are you angry with me?”

“…” Another silence, at least for the moment. You were looking at him and felt your belly tighten. So he _was_ angry. Or at least upset.

“I –“

“What's wrong with you?” He interrupted abruptly. “You came here to side with Kabuto?”

“No!!” You protested quickly. “No, no that’s not it at all!!”

“What then?” His voice was low. Deathly. Unnerving. You were both far enough away for the other three not to hear the conversation and thus couldn’t sense his display of emotion. Itachi _was_ in fact upset with you. He didn’t like what he heard and saw back there. And what's more, lately you've been acting dangerously reckless.  
“I didn’t know that we were going after _Kabuto_ at first. It wasn’t on purpose…”

“Would you have if you knew?”

“Yes, I would have gone! Because I wanted to know if it’s possible. Eternal life is such an interesting topic Itachi, its something countless people have died for…what if I had that ability? To create eternal life?” But you paused and darkened. “Then I realized something as I sought after it in that place.” You turned your head towards him, leaping over another branch, sailing through the air, your cloak whipping out behind you. “You appeared and I wondered if eternal life was really such a smart thing after all.” You looked forth again in time to evade hitting your head on a branch. “Konan…Pein-sensei…the three Sannin...hell, even Madara...They’ve all lived so long. And each of them has had to get themselves involved in something larger than life. If you survive forever does it mean you have to stick your neck out? Or even if you live longer than is natural, but not forever?” Your frown, which currently felt like it might be knee-deep, remained and began to ache under your skin. “Deidara threatened to blow me up if I pursued it.” You skimmed over a mass of leaves and twigs projected out from the side of a tree trunk. “His reasoning had to do with his interpretation of art. I have to say, he’s a little correct about it. What is the point of allowing something to exist forever? Conversely, Sasori’s right too…there’s no point in art existing for too short a time either.”  
It was a roundabout way of explaining your chain of reasoning but it’d do.

“I see.” Itachi began, his voice barely discernable over the rushing of the air. “You only question the _wisdom_ of living forever.”

“I question whether it’s a good idea or not because I saw you standing there Itachi…and if I could do it…I…” You faltered. What were you gonna say next? ‘Only if he could live forever, too’? That is to say that you’d be with him all the while. And neither of you knew that for certain. He had a tougher time of it than most do in three lifetimes. What if he didn't want his hellish life to carry on longer than it already would? Even though he agreed to stay with you already, anything can happen. And ‘Anything’ applied to how Itachi made you feel a lot different than anyone else you had encountered and you never thought there would be this point in your life where you’d find someone that would interlock with yourself, given your ‘career’.

You paused and blushed a bit then reached up and grasped your high collar, grasping the top hem between your fingertips, tugging it closer to your cheekbones in the whipping wind, trying to hide the blood that had risen to your complexion. Itachi’s presently black eyes lingered for a moment and you caught the same shadow of a smile that only lasts for a moment; if you looked away and glanced back, it would be gone. Yeah. ‘Interlock’. Dear god, not yet, not yet. But you learned that you wanted that.

“Don’t mind me. I’m not here. You can’t see me.” You said, muffled a bit by the wind and the collar now obscuring your face except for your eyes from his point of view.

“Yes I can.” 

You glanced at him and looked away quite fast, blushing a little more, spooked and embarrassed. Was he teasing you?! What was it about him?! _He didn’t even need to lift a hand to drop your guard!!_

“Er..ah…” You ghosted and went invisible. _\- Now you can’t? -_

He closed his eyes, then reopened them and they were the familiar cruel red accented with black. _/Yes, I can./_

The others, by now, decided to speed up and draw level. 

“What the fuck are you two doing?” Hidan inquired slowly, almost slyly, as if he knew he caught you both guilty.

“Saiya is being an idiot.” Kisame said. This was either a fast cover-up or simply very convenient. “So how about it Itachi, did you get out of her what you wanted to know?”

“She’s not working with them.” Itachi informed calmly, his Sharingan still tracking you. The others couldn’t see you, period, but he definitely could. Awhile ago it would've made you feel violated.  
“Good.” Kisame said, relieved. “It’s only Madara then.”

“Likely.” Itachi said with tone once again very much clipped and businesslike. 

You reappeared, solid again, and glared, that damn blush blessedly diminished. “Hey!!! What’s that, now?! You suspected me for a _traitor?!_ ”

“We are under orders to find out who the traitor is.” Kisame explained, undeterred. “Madara thinks I’m working with him.”

“Kisame...a double agent, eh?” You reflected aloud. “Didn’t see that one coming.”

“As far as he knows I’m working to his benefit. And Saiya, you just said you didn’t think I’d _be_ a double agent.”

“Making it ideal.” Kakuzu added.

“Tch!” Hidan was too busy being irritated to participate in the conversation. Thankfully. He normally isn't one to add an insightful angle to things.

“Leader accepted the possibility that the traitor could be anyone.” Kisame added, to which Itachi closed his eyes for a moment to shove away a lick of pain, looked straight ahead and reopened them. In that moment he was able to rely on his memory to know where to land next and kick off again. You watched him a second then decided it’d be now or never to say what you’d been wondering about and hoping wasn’t true.

“It makes sense. But did you check him out too?” You asked, interested now. It was given to logic. You couldn’t rightfully be upset with them over that for checking you because it was not personal. Everyone was a suspect here. And while Madara is a known enemy, there was no telling exactly how many people he had finessed into his grasp. He had been doing this for years, longer than you were alive. Given that, he was not to be taken lightly by anyone; _even_ the current Sage of the Six Paths.

“No. We had to wait on you.” Kisame grunted. “We aren’t close enough to Leader to learn anything about him.”

“Surely he understands that he is also subject to examination.” Kakuzu ground out, springing closer to the conversation. Hidan was also level with the group now too. He was listening but not saying anything.

“Of course he does.” You said, grimly. “And I hate to admit it, but I’ve wanted this opportunity. There’s no telling who Madara’s accomplice is in the end, or how many. Or if Pein-sensei has some other goals of his own that he hasn’t told anyone about yet.”

“Pffft, he didn’t say anything to us until he had to.” Hidan snapped. “We worked for him without knowing a damn thing for the longest fucking time."

“Is this true?” You inquired, surprised. 

“To an extent.” Itachi admitted, only to elaborate sparsely. “We all had our reasons.”

“Riiight.” You rolled your eyes. You had been the only one who didn’t have a solid reason, though on and off you learned that you hadn't been the only one forcibly recruited. “That said, neither Pein-sensei nor Konan lend themselves well to investigation.” Then you blinked. “Hey wait a minute, what exactly are you using to look for in a person in order to tell if one of us are working with Madara?”

“Sharingan.” Itachi responded quietly. He didn't admit it to anybody but the strain would be very high if he had to use this Sharingan of his on Pein or Madara. Konan, maybe not so much.

You blinked. That too made a great deal of sense. One cannot lie to the Sharingan, especially given his level of expertise with his kekkei-genkai. But for him to now be able to use it on anyone without them noticing…without even appearing to _activate_ the Sharingan, was incredible and a little unnerving. And he didn’t even seem taxed by using it in such a way, far as you could tell. He admitted once he'd still need 'new light', but you weren't so sure when that would have to happen. 

And then, of course, there was the question of whether or not Itachi himself was a traitor. But he wasn’t. Madara wanted him dead and Pein wouldn’t dare trust him on such a mission as this if he thought Itachi worked with that man. But given Itachi’s own hatred for Madara, the years of hurt, a lifetime of that bastard yanking his chain, he was literally the _only_ person guaranteed not to be a rat. And while you had been at odds with Madara recently, they had to rule you out as a suspect anyhow.   
“You know,” You said at last. “Pein-sensei has been under Madara's thumb for so long but he wants out. Personally, I find that the issue is finding out what he himself is working towards. He notoriously doesn’t make it his business to keep us well informed, wouldn’t you all agree?”

“Yes.” Kakuzu answered from somewhere to the right and a few feet behind. 

“It's definitely not going to be easy since he gave this mission in the first place." You said. 

"I want to discover if he's been putting on an elaborate front. Madara has controlled him for a long time now. It's possible that this is another order he's following. There is no accurate way to know how deep Madara's influence extends.” Itachi answered. 

You smirked. “Not unless you were able to fight him and Tsukiyomi him fast enough. But, possessing a doujutsu of his own, he knows how to combat one. Chances are you wouldn’t have the opportunity, leaving such an investigation up to ‘the old-fashioned way’.” Again, your demeanor would darken. “And trust me when I tell you all that he has got to be the most insanely, overwhelmingly powerful opponent I’ve faced…and I’ve been fighting him since I was young. It hasn’t changed since then. I haven't beaten him once.” Then you would lighten. “But I think if nothing else all he is set upon is _his_ goal.”

Kisame sighed in irritation. “Yeah, some of us had to fight with him when were pulled into Akatsuki. And now we’re back to square two. We need to know what he wants, but saying that he is only interested in his own goals doesn’t help any.”

“Here’s a good one for you; just fucking _ask_ already and be done with it.” Hidan ground out. It was then that everyone either grinned or burst out laughing and Hidan arrogantly shrugged, scoffed, and shot ahead of the group.

It was nice to laugh together and was a luxury you hadn’t been able to partake in for awhile, small though it was.

 

_Later On…_

The trees, the ground, the slant of the land became more familiar. This was not far from the hidden Akatsuki lair, a mile or so. 

So then.

Why was there the stench of burnt wood, chemicals, clothing and flesh filtered through the stagnant air, making a dry gag stick in the back of your throat?

The woods were immobile. As eerily motionless as you’d left this place before; you knew something wasn’t right but had written it off and moved on.  
“It fucking _stinks_!” Hidan complained, covering his nose and mouth with a sleeve. “Yeah…” Kisame said, his voice deadened, no laughter resonating within. Itachi and Kakuzu remained silent. Your eyes were widened at first in realization of what it could be, but the second you caught a glimpse of smoke and debris, you forced yourself to calm down and assume the emotionless façade ordinarily reserved for battle. Inwardly however, you were already shaken before getting a good eyeful of the scene ahead. Fire was not spreading to the trees yet. There wasn’t any wind right now to cause that.

You landed in the branches of the same tree you’d been in before at the start of he journey and stood against the trunk, peering around it discreetly, your body well hidden by its girth. Much as you tried to suppress emotion; you barely managed this time. The place which had become your home was reduced to a smoldering ruin. There was no one left here. All you detected was the flickering; dying flames of life beneath burning debris, these people were prisoners or servants. No one had been spared except other Akatsuki and, of course, it begged the question: ‘Who did this?’

The others had also come to a stop behind trees, being cautious in nature at first, but seeing that there was nothing to fear here, they’d step out into the open and walk over to the destroyed mound of stone. Everyone was silent for now and you leapt down from the tree and headed over that was as well, now looking around, sensing for the nearest survivor. Most of them were buried far down and likely very much unconscious 

“This ain’t right.” Kisame intoned lowly.

“What’s not right about it?” Kakuzu queried pointedly. “It's hardly shocking that this place would be attacked. Is this not what you would do?”

“Not me personally, no.” Kisame's response was quiet, as if concerned that the enemy lingered nearby. “I’d take a different approach.”

You weren’t listening to their talk. Instead you were standing atop the debris and looking down at it silently, wondering if you could find what you hoped had survived…and, to this grim thought, vanished into ghost form and descended out of sight. 

“Hey! Saiya, what the hell are you...” Hidan trailed off. Itachi looked at Hidan and then back at where you’d gone. He had a feeling that he knew what you were doing. 

As you searched, you could not discern one thing from another. Some gaps of room were formed by rock propped against rock, but for the most parts, this place was packed solid. You passed the dead and dying on the way through, and even, upon assuming defeat that you’d not be able to salvage anything from your desk (It was completely flattened to nothing, plus was stained and burnt by chemicals…including the one flask you hoped would be there, unharmed). Seeing that, you turned back to head down into the prison.

But this had been at least one of the places where the explosion began and it, too, was collapsed. You ascended through the debris then and poked up in sight of the others, floating over to them. They turned to you.

“Find anything?” Kisame asked.

“No. Everything has been destroyed and those who are not dead will be soon. Whoever did this was thorough.” You responded. “There's no signs of the others. They either weren’t here, escaped, or were taken.” 

“There is always someone here.” Kakuzu said. You nodded, lowering to the ground and once you touched down, solidified gradually. “So now what?”

“Good question.” Kisame grunted. “We have nowhere to go and there are no signs where the others went.”

“Yeah.”

“So—AH!! What the HELL Zetsu!” Hidan exploded, leaping abruptly to the side as a body formed upwards from a pool of rippling energy which disturbed the ground. The plant man looked from on face to the next after the immense fly-trap opened around his head. “Finally.” Darke rasped.

“You took a long time in returning.” Wight remarked.

“Well excuuuse us, its not as though we knew something like this would happen while we were gone, y'know.” You snapped.

“Just as well.” Dark grated out quietly.

“Leader wants everyone to report to the Hidden Rain.” Wight instructed. 

“Hurry up.” Darke growled next. “There’s no time to screw around.”

“Yeah yeah yeah…”

Zetsu then materialized out of sight and you turned to the others. “Well then, we know Zetsu isn’t the enemy at least...or he wouldn’t direct us to where we are actually supposed to go.” You looked towards the debris heap, noting that the last flames were dying down without enough fuel to keep burning.

“Don’t say that yet. We don’t know if it’s a trap.” Kisame warned.

“I hardly think even Madara would pull such a harebrained move on five of us.” You pointed out. A rustle of paper broke the silence, as Kakuzu had take out his usual map and was now perusing it. After a moment of plotting, he started over the rubble and glanced around as he stood atop it. “Looks like a day’s travel under decent conditions with no rest if we maintain our earlier speed. Two and a half days. Or three, maximum.”

Itachi glanced around at everyone. So far the group was okay, having now been at rest for nearly seventeen minutes. But people were going to get tired. That was a long, harsh run from the middle of nowhere earlier. Everyone here appeared to have tremendous endurance; however, it wouldn’t be fair to force the team to mush on with only one brief stop. After all, there was no telling what would happen next. And the group would be ill prepared indeed if they were caught weakened by exhaustion. But it would not be wise to stay here, either. 

“Let’s go?” You suggested. “We’d be fools to remain here. That smoke seems like it went up pretty high and the Hidden Leaf isn’t far off. They won’t wait very long before they make a move, if they haven't sent a team out already."

Kakuzu sprang ahead in response and right then you followed, as well as Itachi, then Kisame, and lagging behind as usual would be Hidan, who was distantly cursing that he had not been around to be a part of this destruction, even if was bad that the place he lived in for quite awhile had been decimated. Maybe he should feel worse about this. Maybe everyone should. And perhaps did. But unless people pipe up its hard to say, isn’t it? You yourself were stunned. You lost a home once of your own volition, more accurately, you left it behind. This once though a place you called 'home' was taken away.  
Although now you realized how it must have felt for the few Gyaku relatives that returned to the Grass from their journeys to find the compound riddled with corpses and broken apart by bandits and otherwise. It was the same painful sting of realization that you no longer had a place to call home. All that you owned had been in there and now it was gone in the hours you’d been absent. Was this karma? And if so, did karma begin chronologically? Would it start with the loss of a home, and span to the loss of friends and family…to the torture, the agony and a buildup of hatred, going on and on until you ultimately met with your end?

_/Such thoughts, Saiya,_ do _herald one’s own end./_ Came a voice, echoing within the recesses of your mind with a sort of wisdom and ease of experience. It was Pein-sensei, and you always could pick him out of a crowd, albeit a riot of thought like now. 

_-Then what can I do, sensei?-_

_/If this is karma, if it is fate who is your enemy, then strain against it with all that composes your being./_ His voice arrived sounding grave as normal, but not without sage intelligence that you agreed with wholeheartedly. _/Karma is a force to be reckoned with. However, even a river’s course can be changed. The weak are the ones who drown in its current./_

You smiled behind your high cloak collar, faintly, not wanting to smile, and yet doing so, allowing your face to relax, and bounded along mostly in the middle of the pack through the trees. _-Good thing I’m a strong swimmer then, sensei.-_

_/Yes./_ His response was calm and unshaken. As if this didn't happen to his own people. 

_-Was it Madara?-_

_/He did his best to catch us off guard and could've succeeded. Uchiha Sasuke was led here also./_

Surprise resonated in your mind and he’d be able to feel it with utmost ease. _-What? Why? I don’t understand why he’d cooperate with that pumpkinfaced prick. I sabotaged his operation, and he knows Madara sent me.-_

_/Regardless, they were very much apart. Uchiha Sasuke was searching for his brother and there were three others with him./_

_-Interesting. But this doesn't fully add up, wouldn't you agree?-_

_/Yes./_ He hesitated. _/They were there at the same time. However no one fought./_

You pondered, slowing down, lagging back behind the group. Itachi’s eyes tracked you for a moment until you were entirely behind and out of sight. Until, at last, you had vanished altogether and were nowhere to be seen or sensed. He was alarmed, and so were the others. “Where the fuck did she go?” Hidan asked, pausing on a tree branch and looking around. Kakuzu turned his head this way and that, as did Kisame. Itachi considered doubling back to the ruins and see if that was where you heading, but instead settled for reaching out to your mind.

_[ Where are you? ]_

_\- I’m sorry Itachi, but there’s something I have to do.-_ You tried to convey a smile, vainly, through a mental connection, but settled for trying to send out a sense of comfort, but your command of telepathy was so poor that it didn't work. And with distance stretching in between you both, there wasn't much time to talk. _-I’ll find my way. You should keep going. No matter what you hear…don’t turn back. And, Itachi? I...if something happens...thank you. For everything. Know that I- -_ Before you could finish the sentence, the connection broke because he passed out of range. You stopped, landing at the foot of a tree and placed a hand upon the rough trunk, closing your eyes for a moment. You inhaled and exhaled deeply and placed your off hand over your belly while your nerves ratcheted into a slowly tightening ball, then looked over your shoulder back the way the men had run. Alone. You were utterly alone in this, and you shouldn't be. Was this _anxiety_ that you were experiencing?

 

_With Itachi..._

Far ahead, Itachi went silent. Why did those words strike so hard and ominous? You wanted him to be with you, but now, you told him to go ahead, and not to look back? No matter what he ‘heard’? What, pray tell, might be _heard_ from this far away? And what did you fail to say at the end? There were hundreds of thoughts streaming through his mind and none would be stemmed by any amount of comfortable thinking. That you’d be fine and there was an adequate reason for this. Maybe a mission? No. It didn’t matter how he thought of it. This happened far too suddenly and without a measurable explanation.

Why not look back? What had he not seen in his existence that wouldn’t seem as gruesome as whatever it might be that you didn’t want him to witness? But he realized he couldn't stop now, and simply had to trust that you'd be alright.

He was bothered that this bothered him so much.

 

_With You..._

It took a few more minutes but you gathered your nerves and then powered along. Soon, you were hearing voices again. _/You’ve sensed it since before the ruins./_ Came Pein’s voice in your head, where you were far away from them by now. His deep, powerful voice resounded low and deadly, almost evil in its own right. You did not answer, eyes flickering from side to side as you walked around part of the rubble. Nothing was here, period. No tracks, no signs, not a stitch to go by. 

_/You know that it is not over, Saiya./_

Still you did not respond. Rather, you closed your eyes and spread out your awareness as much as you could, sensing around the surrounding area to detect what it was you instinctively realized was close. 

_/This has gone too far. It must end here./_

As you progressed farther around the scorched detritus and into the trees, it felt more like you were listening to a badly tuned radio, breaking up here and there from the sheer distance separating your minds. The deteriorating connection made Pein's tone fluctuate from what it was, similar to the terrible sound quality of an astral projection. Now he sounded distorted and gruff, and unless you were mistaken...predatory. The mood was infectious and you felt quite the same as he sounded, sensing that your prey was close by. This confrontation couldn't be avoided, and there was no point in letting yourself be overcome with anxiety like earlier. You didn't have to say goodbye to Itachi, because you decided that you were coming back no matter what.

_/You know what it is that you must do./_

Your eyes sprang open and you turned in the seven o’ clock direction, muscles coiling and firing, sending you in a jump over head-high clusters of stone. You hurried through the tree line, then bolted up the side of one, routing chakra to your legs and gained access to the highest branches. This would be your road, but not for long.

_/When it is done, come to the highest tower in the Hidden Rain./_

Bounding through trees, twigs and branches slapped your body when you were careless. You found him. You found your target. All it took was to disconnect your rational thoughts and not listen to them for a little while. So that your mind would be free and clear, and the thing closest to base instinct could speak for once. And that too, was instinct, to do such a thing in the first place. It was what allowed you to be unpredictable. It’s _exactly_ what threw so many off when you were fighting. Over the years you learned the ability to strike out without trace of your intentions. There's a great deal about that which is liberating. It's as close to primal instinct as possible without _being_ primal instinct...a creature's only intention is to survive, if that meant killing, then so be it. Even _that_ was pushed out of sight by the emotionless mask. It certainly simplified things, taking 'conscience' out of the equation where necessary. There aren't many in the world who are capable of turning off their emotions like that, because there are thousands of ninja who use their feelings as a spigot on their power. Though being human, there was a limit to how far it went for you also.

You drew to a halt abruptly, not caring that you announced your arrival by rustling the trees and crunching corpselike leaves, causing those that had not fallen to scatter and float. Ahead was a hollow. Along the furthest edge was a stream, and upon it floated crisp flakes of color; leaves that had yet to turn brown and some which already had. Many of them were red. And the grass here over uneven ground was browned, probably seared by sunny days and since not recovered due to the autumn’s coming. At first glance there was nothing here.  
But your eyes focused beside the stream, where your senses told you this target sat. Sure enough, the grass stirred, crinkled in protest, and the air filled in with color up to a man’s height. A long black cloak, marked with red and white exactly like yours, and then of course his trademark swirled orange mask and a bunch of scruffy black hair prodding out around it. 

“Tobi likes it here.” He began once you jumped down and walked towards him. Despite referring to himself in the third person he did not use the voice normally coupled with it. He sounded like Madara but pretended to talk like ‘Tobi’.  
“Does he?” You asked quietly.

“Tobi thinks it’s a good place for Saiya-chan to _die_.”

You smiled and looked down on the bright water, stepping up beside him, but beyond arm’s reach. “It’s peaceful.” Then you frowned. “Except there’s one problem.”

“And that is?”

“It’s that Orange-kun appears to be under the impression that I’m going to die…when it is, tragically, Orange-kun who will be passing away on this fine afternoon.” A feral grin contorted your mouth and Madara aimed to draw his blade. You did not let it happen however; closing the distance between in the blink of an eye and knocking him into the stream. He knew what would happen next; a lightning jutsu most likely.

Instead what happened was you forced the stream to surge up and attempt to fling him into the air like a geyser, in hopes it would throw Madara off balance and render him incapable of dodging the next part. As you did the hand signs for a lightning type jutsu, and ran it through the pillar of water, he was gone already…having erased his body and thrown himself out of sight. You detected him nearby and ghosted as fast as possible, his katana parting through you and beginning to smoke and glow at the thinnest, sharpest edge. He drew it back and erased himself from sight again. You did the same. In the instance of that exchange, it happened so fast that the geyser burst only now collapsed back from whence it came as if in slow motion, splashing water across the stream banks on either side with a terrific noise like a crashing wave.

Stalemate. 

You turned your unseen head this way and that, attempting to detect him, but it was a futile. You couldn’t sense him as he was anymore, whereas earlier he obviously wanted to be found. And he merely couldn’t hit you as _you_ were. It's well known that physical attacks do not work on you in this state. But likewise, you were going to have an impossible time trying to inflict damage on him. If he can erase his entire body, did that mean he can deny the existence of injuries? If so, then it was a matter of how much chakra was expended. This fight would never end, because you both had tremendous power reserves and could hold out on it for quite awhile. You wished that he was as susceptible to energy poisoning like that tomato-haired bitch Karin was…then this would be much easier. And amusing.

But that wasn’t the case. After having attacked him in the recent past, when Madara fell into that trap you rigged up on your desk, he would’ve died if he was very sensitive to chakra, assuming that was indeed him, and not a body double. You had ghost needles riddling his body and severed his Achilles tendons with your katana. If it didn’t work then, it would not work now.

The clearing was motionless. Neither of you were going to move first, making this a game of patience and you were not _nearly_ as patient as Madara is. But you couldn’t sense him, and he can’t sense you...or he would’ve lashed out already. This is Uchiha Madara we're talking about, here. The man is a legend for a reason. He could simply be humoring you, not too different from how Itachi did when you first met. 

_'Think Saiya. Think. He’s human, he has weaknesses. This technique has an opening. Now find it!'_ You thought furiously, then banished your thoughts to open your mind, attempting to expand awareness as far as you could. But you instantly discovered that you couldn’t do this. This particular manifestation was too limited, its _real_ power was extracted only via death. You nearly cussed. He would know better than to shove a blade into your chest, and he wouldn't let you do the same to yourself. Madara mentioned that you are going to die today, but that's not what he meant. What this told you is that he figured out your limitations.

Madara watched from where he hid, calculating the odds of what you'd do next. Using Sharingan, he could find you with zero problems, and the advantage was his. The only thing causing this deadlock was that both of you could remain immune to physical injury. _'She can't stay hidden for long.'_ Madara thought to himself. _'But I'm not going to let this drag on forever.'_ He couldn’t use weapons or taijutsu currently, but come to think of it…he did have an idea, and bolted towards you. Rather than breathing fire like every other Uchiha is able to do (the mask limits this, obviously), he concentrated on some handseals and threw a Grand Fireball in your direction, then another, and another, and another…from various directions. You would’ve had to be damned stupid not to see this assault and evaded it by shooting upwards and looking down at him. Now you were exactly where he figured you'd be. Madara stood where you'd been a second later and raised an arm straight up to send another wave of fireballs your way.

Or, he _would_ have.

His arm halted before it rose partway and he quivered in place, stunned. Blood dripped down and spotted the browned grass, and abruptly, an explosion blew Madara’s body forth and he landed hard two feet away from the stream. His back was burnt, bleeding, rapidly blistering and overall disgusting. You had a choice now: stop and gawk, or finish the job before he recovered. On a split second decision, you opted not to look a gift horse in the mouth and flew down at him, unsheathing your presently invisible katana; not paying attention to the fact that you were fading into sight.

But before your blade could touch him, a current of searing heat tore through the hollow and burnt the grass to ash. You didn’t see the fire when it came, but you were thrown back. You were knocked straight over onto the opposite bank of the stream and realized you were solid again. Pain itched at your body, regions of which felt numb against the rocks that caught your landing. Your clothes had caught on fire and you hastily rolled into the stream, barely managing to take a breath before impacting the water and sinking under its surface. This wasn't a second too soon. A roar of fire shredded the air above, piercing the stream's face with a blinding glow. You stared up in shock, as this flame began to rapidly heat the water just by passing over it—what the fuck was going on?!  
It was hot as hell that’s for certain, no ordinary fire release can boil moving water by merely passing over it for under a minute.

When the water was no longer colored by reddish-orange, you chanced to poke your head up above the water again. 

Madara lay upon the bank. He must've aimed to leap into the water too, but he was less fortunate and definitly didn't make it. His skin was so charred black that it was peeling away from his muscle like burnt tree bark. He was twitching relentlessly, his body practically beyond control. He tried to get up but his assailant placed their foot upon his back and pushed him back down. The sound his crisped skin made when stepped on...it was eerie. That was something you've never heard before. But the smell was very much like that time back in Anarchy during the games when you fried a small army worth of kunoichi extra-crispy with the aptly named Hellfire Tempest jutsu. What made that one so tremendously, ridiculously, over-the-top powerful was the combination of fire and wind. It burnt _so_ insanely hot, that you needed to also protect yourself with a shield, and circulate frosty air inside to take the edge of the temperature inside that thing. But that was a combination of two elements. Far as you could tell, this newcomer was only using fire.

You turned ghost and slowly floated up out of the water, looking at this person as they raised their katana towards you which was glowing as if pulled from a forge. It was a woman, wearing a blood red short-sleeved hooded jacket over some type of brighter red top, and black pants with standard black sandals…her skin was golden tan, but her hair was a little hard to see, since you could only see wisps of it framing her face, and what looked like wooden fox ears poking up behind her head, a mask facing backwards. She’d look almost plain, really…no one you could possibly recognize. But her most striking feature was her eyes; which were glowing as luminous as if they were miniscule suns.

The desire to approach and ask questions flooded you for a moment but chances are, she’s as deadly at short range as she is from far away. Slipping a sidelong glance in Madara’s direction, you saw again what a rancid mess of boiled blood and baked meat he was. Plus, this person had knocked you out of your ghost form. The only way that occurs is if someone passes enough chakra through you, normally that doesn’t happen unless the opponent figures it out, and most of the time you have killed the enemy before then. This was either dumb luck on her part, or, less likely, purpose.

“So.” She began, her voice ringing clear and relaxed. “Gyaku Saiya, was it? I’ve heard plenty about you.”

“Oh?” Was all you could say, carefully maintaining your emotionless composition, however, you were surprised. “Why are you here? Who are you?”

“To be rid of a nuisance.” She said, smiling. Her eyes flashed blindingly bright and Madara’s body simultaneously combusted as he attempted to move. A scream of anguish tore from him, and he gurgled and was drowned out…both in whatever fluid his lungs had absorbed, and from the death of fire and toxic smoke that smothered out his life.

You remained as you were, noticing that this woman would not look at you, or anything else. She was only watching Madara, keeping her eyes carefully trained upon him. The fire did not end. It continued to snarl at the corpse until it had eaten everything that made him, where it proceeded to claw at the grass as if it were a ravenous beast far from satiated.

Then the fire diminished in on itself, tightening together, twisting, collapsing into a single vibrant tongue of flame that lashed up a few inches to lick the smoke above it, and then, choked out of existence altogether. You had been momentarily transfixed but quickly turned your head back towards the woman, whose eyes were now closed, head bowed towards where Madara had been. 

“Uchiha Madara; I have not permitted you to die an honorable death. Nor did you warrant a proper funeral. You, of all people in this world, do not deserve to be enshrined amongst the legends of you clan, of your country.” She intoned, voice lowered almost reverently. As if she absolutely respected his memory despite the many horrors he wrought.

“You’re speaking his eulogy?” You asked, eyeing her warily. “ _And_ saying he isn’t worth it? That is a bit of a contradiction, don’t you think?”

The woman’s lips curved gently into another smile. One that could lull anybody into a false sense of security…if they were easily duped, perhaps, but there was a strange quality to her. “He may not deserve any of those things, but Uchiha Madara was a great man. There is always respect where it is due.”

“And that’s the only reason why you’re here?”

“I suppose I could’ve killed you too.” She said, reopening her eyes and looking at you. Instead they were not glowing. They were gray, then turned as purple as yours. You couldn’t tell if it was a trick of the light and shadow or if she somehow did that on purpose. “But I wasn’t instructed to. It’s not time for that yet.” 

Your insides felt as if they clamped together around themselves, in that ‘distant place’. 

“You’re a ghost.” She observed at last, as if having noticed only now. “It is as interesting as I’ve heard! You should have died with him, or at least would have been injured at that attack. It must have _impressive_ defensive capabilities, to make you almost invulnerable.”

By now you weren’t sure what to think of this nameless person. The Ghost Aspect does _not_ have the best defensive abilities when it comes to fending off jutsus. Rather, you hadn’t figured out how to stop it from absorbing additional chakra from enemy jutsu passed through your body. If you could do that, and therefore stop yourself from being pushed back into a solid form, you would have a totally different type of ‘Absolute Defense’, but to do that, you’d have to sacrifice something else. You would be turning the Ghost Aspect from ‘Absolute Offense’ to ‘Absolute Defense’ and wouldn’t be able to change it readily. Instead, you’d rather rely on speed and power to end a conflict quickly. 

But this woman was _overwhelmingly_ powerful. She wasn’t even tired after exerting such a potent technique, and what were those eyes all about?

“Anyway, it was a pleasure to meet you, Gyaku Saiya.” 

You had been awkwardly silent and you woke up from reverie just then, as she turned her back to you. Upon her shirt was a rising phoenix. It was obviously a clan symbol. And on the back of her head was a wooden fox mask painted in white, red, and accented with black. It grinned at you mischievously, as if it knew something you didn't. Somehow, that mask matched this woman perfectly.

“Who are you?” You barked at last, landing on the ground and starting after her, a hand outstretched.

“They call me Kitsuna.” She called over her shoulder.

“Kitsunaaaaaa…?” You draw it out, wanting a surname.

“Just Kitsuna!” She laughed, throwing something small and silver over her shoulder. “Think fast!” You stared after her and reached up to catch the object, and by the time you looked back up, she was gone. A frown creased your brow and you looked down into the palm of your hand, fingers uncurling.

 

There, warm to the touch and flecked with ash, sat Madara’s ring nestled against the lines in your hand.


	40. Deus Ex Machina

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You arrive at the Hidden Rain, receive new instructions, and now can relax for a bit. But come nightfall, your relationship with Itachi goes to the next level.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rhig: WOO on a roll! What's that smell? Is it... *sniff*....CONSPIRACY? BWAHAHAHAHAAAA!!! 
> 
> Deidara: -blink/stare- She's totally lost it, un. o__o'  
> Sasori: She never HAD it to begin with. 
> 
> Rhig: Shut your face. I have a pet roaming around my house on a certain game that's a severed hand with a mouth. And a ring. I named it Deidara. So there. Anyhows, I restructured parts of this chapter entirely because I had a few realizations of my own, and mostly this was done to keep Itachi as in-character as possible.
> 
> Deidara: That is SO creepy, hnn... .____.'  
> * Definition of ‘Deus Ex Machina’: Literally translated as ‘God from the Machine’. Used in reference to a new element dragged into a plot for whatever reason; I have also heard it used in reference to certain devices used on stage in the past.  
> Here, I apply it to an even more literal sense...that Pein, with his God complex, stores his bodies in a machine and is just as cold and methodical as one.
> 
>  
> 
> Helped me begin writing: ‘Board Up The House (Renholder Remix)’- Genghis Tron and Itachi's song and Pein's song (Iz so pretty... D: ).
> 
>  _”God is in the rain.”_ \- Evey Hammond. [V for Vendetta.]
> 
>  
> 
> *My possessed playlist had 'Bad Things' by Jace Everett playing at the very last part of the chapter. And then 'Trust Me' - Marc Senter from Devil's Carnival. Mwahah? o_O'

Deus Ex Machina

 

They hadn’t gone back to find you. And you didn’t trouble yourself with going to find _them_. You took your evidence that Madara was dead and gone and hurled your body through the forested expanse for hours and hours. The time bridged to a day and a half worth of travel. It didn’t matter to you now.

There wasn’t a lot that felt required to be done. The bijuu were in hand, and Akatsuki’s goal couldn’t be too far from realization. Your mind was emptied of worries save for one.

The matter of that enigmatic kunoichi named Kitsuna.

She could’ve killed you, really. You might’ve still been back there fighting Madara if it hadn’t been for her. Short of Pein, you had never met someone so grotesquely powerful…how could such jutsus exist like the ones she used? Nevertheless, you couldn’t let this cloud your vision for now. It was behind you. And hopefully, you would never meet her again. 

Unlike Kumogakure, the Rain Nation did not announce its presence with reverberating declarations of thunder. Instead, it rested on the horizon hooded in a cowl of quiet storm. Here it rained; and it rained forever. You had never been to this region of the world before. But already, in approach towards its moist borders, it lived up to its very name and the miasma of legend surrounding its grisly past.

It also looked a bit different from other cities. This one was more grim. It arose above the soft, organic mud in hard spires of metal and glass and industrial wires. It was rigid, composed of unyielding lines, and it rippled silvery in the haze of earthward water. The only curvatures in any structure belonged to statues that reminded you of your sensei in effigy.

What a bladelike world it was.

Numb indifference encompassed your disposition as you watched the vista. Your pupils had adjusted to the ill storm-glow of this land before you chose to head inside the city itself.  
It was close to nightfall now, and you had best be going.

 

_Within …_

 

Pein had been meditating. Or that’s how it looked to Konan when she stepped outside into the mouth of a statue, to see what he was up to. His eyelids eased apart and he raised his head towards the sky. 

“Someone is disturbing my rain.”

“Anyone we know?”

After a moment, “We know her well.”

Konan’s emotionless lips curved gently. “Good news.”

“She won't know her way here from the direction she approaches.” He stepped out into the downpour and performed a few seals before raising his hands to the heavens. Konan, knowing the drill, began to wilt into thousands of pages of origami. Each one folded into a butterfly and scattered through the expanse when the rain ended.

They shimmered in the air, a cloud of white dispersing through the city; making pedestrians in their soaked apparel peer up in curiosity from under dripping hoods and hat rims. 

You were crouched on the ledge of a skyscraper and watched as the rain stopped falling. But yet, the storm was not done. Thunder, at last, loosed a deafening report across the charcoal skies. This ruckus was hard on the ears, and sounded as though it had been bridled and then released when it could stay muzzled no longer. Windowpanes must have shivered. Wind whipped in short, gruff bursts, flashing the edges of your cloak around your legs. You stood up with a hand open to the sky, a single purple-jeweled silver ring resting in your palm. Its band was beaded with dew and a miniscule puddle had filled beneath it already.  
A single origami butterfly lighted upon the ring, and floated upwards with a flutter of its paper wings before settling once more, opening and closing its wings like a butterfly does. 

_Konan?_ You thought, and cast your gaze ahead in time to be swirled amongst by a swarm of these such paper insects. They circled you and coasted away, towards another ledge, where they lingered. The one sitting on the ring in your hand flapped upwards and grasped a lock of your damp hair with tiny flat legs, and began to move towards the swarm with it, tugging your hair. You tucked the ring out of sight and leapt ahead to the next ledge, following them.  
Just when you had been wondering where to go, Konan found you. You remembered to go to the highest point here. But it was hard to see (from your stature) where exactly that was in this city of clawing spires and high towers. 

It felt silly and fairytale-esque to follow butterflies to a destination. But who were you to complain when you were lost to begin with? 

They took you far and fast. You had to ramp up the speed so you could keep up with these flying things and accidentally slid off an edge that was slicked with water. This avenue was more perilous than one would think. But you took it in stride and the butterflies followed, as if to make sure nothing happened to you. You free-fell and caught onto edges and flagpoles, swinging up and around, somersaulting through the distance between buildings as you ascended upwards to the higher road Konan had chosen. Pedestrians once again found themselves watching something in wonder.  
Shinobi _normally_ maintain a lower profile. You obviously were doing the opposite. Though you were graceful in your exodus, black and red cloak flaring back from your body in constant motion, as did your hair, damp though it was. 

This unconventional road of freedom-running took you up the side of a building and this was not the tallest one you had seen like the one not too far in the distance (by now), but you did see that the butterflies ducked inside the mouth of a tongued statue. You heard a rustling of reforming paper and finished running up the building, flipping from the side and onto the tongue of this statue, landing in a kneel before slowly rising. 

There stood Pein and Konan, waiting, though the latter raised an eyebrow.

“You certainly know how to draw attention to yourself, Saiya.” Konan remarked amusedly.

“Here.” You took out the ring and walked towards Pein, showing it to him. His gray-purple eyes moved to the ring sitting in your palm. A few flecks of black corpse ash clung against the setting. Pein took it and inspected it at eye level. Konan moved closer to see as well. “How’d it go?” She asked.

“I’m still trying to figure that out.” You said quite seriously.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She prodded, almost reprimanding. 

“I…” You faltered and considered how to word this. Pein’s eyes were piercing you once more as both awaited an actual response. “I found Madara, and we fought, but it was a stalemate. Neither of us was able to progress and actually harm one another. But just as I think we both were figuring out how to breach one another’s defenses… _that_ is when it got interesting.”

“Naturally.” Konan said. Pein remained silent.

“No Konan, it wasn’t the _good_ kind of ‘interesting’.” You drew a breath and turned to the side, looking back the way you came for a moment. In your peripheral vision you saw Pein make a few gestures and then the clouds unloaded their weight in water. A harsh downpour began, hammering the world out around you, and the sound swallowed up any lesser noise.  
“A woman intervened. She incinerated Madara straight through his strange body-erasing jutsu and literally…” You almost choked on the next part, “…spared…me. And made this evident. She handed me that ring.” You motioned your head over your shoulder towards Pein. “Kitsuna. That’s the name she goes by.”

“Incinerated?” Pein queried, and next, Konan, “How so?”

“I didn’t have a chance to get any details. But her eyes looked like suns when she did it. Anything that her fire even _grazed_ was superheated. The stream I dove into began to boil when the fire passed over it. Madara was literally cremated by this technique she used. I’ve never seen anything quite that powerful before.” Now that you got that part out you felt better about looking your sensei in the eye.

“Did she have a phoenix on her back?” Pein asked.

You nodded once, slowly, after a moment. Yes, actually, you remembered that she did.

“She is from the Yoriwara of Kumogakure.” He explained. “They are an ancient clan, said to be the guardians of a great secret in the Hidden Cloud. They retain immense power of their own; a kekkei-genkai.”

“Aside from that nothing is known.” Konan added. “They go to great lengths to keep it that way, or so I hear.” 

“However, they seldom leave Kumogakure.” Pein said. 

“Meaning that if one of them had to come and knock off Madara, he was getting into something that we didn’t know about.” You responded. You nearly made a comment about how she was strong, but stupid. If she had taken the chance to kill you at that time it would create less trouble for the Yoriwara’s in the long-run; now that they revealed themselves once more. That is…assuming that anything would come of this.  
It very well may be that Akatsuki and Yoriwara would have every reason in the world to ignore one another from this point on.

Then again, that grinning fox mask did make you, in some distant way; want to doubt that about them…or at least Kitsuna.  
That _somehow_ , you knew that you’d see her again and this time it wouldn’t be coincidence.

You turned around again to stare at the rain come down. “Is there some universal law no one told me about?” You asked quietly, and your voice was nearly drowned out. 

“What?” Pein asked. 

“As long as we fight, is there always going to be some greater force to overcome? That there is always going to be another reason to train so we can overwhelm that new obstacle?”

“I warned you.” Pein answered simply. And it was so. Before your first day of training with him, when he took you under his wing, he told you that while it may be hard to understand now; you would _always_ have the next greatest adversary to overcome. 

**_”--such has it been for me since I was young. There had always been someone or something greater than myself…until I finally surpassed them all. And so it shall be for you also.”_ **

**_“When can I do that too, huh?”_ **

**_“All things in time, Saiya.”_ **

 

“So is this it then?” You pushed this question out into the open. “How much more is really left to be done?”

“Oh, plenty.” Konan said. “There’s a list of objectives to be accomplished. Much of it requires a more specific touch.” She indicated Pein and herself. “For now Saiya, Akatsuki can rest. Just a short while anyway, until there’s more killing to be done.”

“But what about—“ You protested, only to be cut across by Pein. “Yes, there are loose ends to be snipped. All that I require will be in hand shortly.”  
This left you standing with your mouth ajar, but a stray raindrop landing on your cheek near the corner of your mouth made you clam up.  
“Madara is out of the way now.” Pein continued, seeing as you had nothing more to say. “He was the largest obstacle that had to be dealt with. The rest will fall into place with certain persuasion.”

“And we won’t be needed for that?” You asked a touch doubtfully, referring to yourself and the others. The promise of some well-earned time off seemed too good to be true, so surely, it was. Pein’s _actual_ intentions towards Akatsuki had always remained a mystery to you in several aspects. But it was not yours to ask ‘why’.

“Not yet anyway.” Konan answered with a hint of kindness in her words. She knew that this left the remainder of Akatsuki with little to do for now. While a respite from this madness is welcome, it isn't wise to leave so many killers hanging around with nothing to do. But before you could blurt out more questions, Pein neatly placed a lid on it. 

“Understand that this is in no way going to mature into a permanent situation and yourself as well as the others are merely on standby until needed.” His voice maintained a crisp clarity over the rain, ringing with truth that made you feel just the tiniest bit at ease. Akatsuki had absorbed itself so thoroughly into your life and you hadn’t yet given thought to what you would do after it if you survived the ordeal. But just like that; Pein let you off the hook for what happened with Madara. He didn’t appear to _care_ that it wasn't you who snuffed him out. And you still weren’t sure how you felt about it. 

“Very well.” You stirred out of your funk. “Is there anywhere where I can train for the time being?”

“Yes, and I will show you where. But not now.” Konan answered. “I can tell how exhausted you are, Saiya…and probably hungry, too.” From the back of her left hand a sheaf of flesh-colored paper peeled away. It flicked over, revealing a white underside, and began folding into a mini origami dart. “Follow this to where you will be staying. Arrangements were made in advance.” 

You glanced at Pein, who nodded once to you and turned to walk into the mouth, which led to a door where the throat of the statue ought to have been. This door had no handles. It swung open smoothly and without the complaint of hinges when Pein drew closer to it; and beyond was a rather dreary hallway. The group of three stepped out and when you glanced back, that doorway was gone; instead there was a featureless expanse of iron grey wall. 

While the little origami craft floated beside your head, pointing down the hallway rather patiently (however insistently), Konan walked away and turned the bend. Pein was left alone with you in the hall.

“There is one more thing I wanted to speak to you about Saiya.” He began tentatively.  
“And that is?”  
“Follow me.” He led you down the same way Konan went, and you would pass a few doors before stopping in front of a doorway that was wider than the others, however, it was only a single door, not a double. He placed a hand upon the steel of the door itself and then motioned to you with his free hand. “Grasp the door handle.”

You did as instructed, thinking this behavior strange, but your fingers detected grooves carved into the metal upon the underside of the handle. They felt like symbols. Such as hand seals, but engraved.  
Pein sent a minute pulse of his energy into the door and you felt the symbols become warm to the touch, and as if responding, your own chakra spilled through your fingertips and into the grooves of the characters. The door unlocked and Pein removed his hand from the door. You swung it open. Beyond was inky blackness. “There are only a few who may enter this room.” Pein said, walking inside. You followed him into the darkness. Within, you could barely detect hulking shapes. “Madara was not among them; although he broke in here.” Lights flickered on and your eyes widened a little for a moment before you regained your composure. Along both sides of the rectangular room where machines with bodies in them. When you moved closer to have a look, you caught sight of a familiar face. 

There; lying inside one of these machines was Pein as he looked when you first met him. The hair was just as long, the same color, the facial piercings were as you remembered them too. “This is--!” You exclaimed, turning to look at another body. 

“Yes,” Pein responded calmly. “You _would_ remember that one.”

“And here I thought you just cut your hair.” You muttered a little more loudly than intended, eliciting a brief and rare chuckle from your sensei. “So what’s the ques…tion.” You had paused upon moving further down the room and saw that some of the bodies had been mangled. The machines containing them looked undamaged but that’s not the issue at hand here.  
“Oh.” You murmured, moving closer and looking down. The bleeding wasn’t too bad. In fact…

“These are corpses, sensei.” You realized aloud. Ordinarily you’d be able to figure that out right away but your brains were addled as it was from recent events. Both Pein and Konan had been patient.  
“They are.” He confirmed. “And yet they continue serve their purpose.”  
“These are all _you_?” You asked incredulously, turning to look at him. There was one last machine at the end of the room which was uninhabited. This must be the one for his current body. “But how is this possible?”

“I assume you can restore them to a proper condition?” He smoothly evaded your question. It was not for you to know, after all. 

“Of course I can!” You scoffed, a little incensed. “But don’t you want them alive again, if they are…y’know…you?”

“I’ve already told you that they serve their purpose.” He said, moving towards the empty machine. He lay down, and closed his eyes. A pneumatic hiss followed, and the hood of the machine slid down over his head, forming a hollow arch over his neck. You couldn’t make out many other details aside from that.  
A second hiss issued out, and the machine beside you rolled its hood back and Pein’s body with the long, long hair opened its ringed eyes. This was the one you knew as a child, who taught you so much and then sealed that knowledge away. You blatantly stared. How was that even _possible_? 

While he took his time sitting up, you examined his movements and were vexed that a corpse was capable of such easy motion, as if he had never been dead. As a medic you were baffled.

“I will require that these bodies are operational in the future.” He continued on in that familiar voice. “Now that you have access to this room Saiya, I would like you to work on this when you are prepared to do so. Now,” His ringed eyes moved to the door once he stood up. “I sense that a component of your chakra has been depleted. You ought to restore it.”

This was his way of making you realize you should leave. Still quite as insistent as ever; that small origami arrow pointed out the door where it floated twelve inches to the left of your head, easily in sight. 

“Right.” You responded almost mechanically and left the room, figuratively carrying your wonder with you. 

Your thoughts had drawn towards an eerie stillness within your own cranium. All you did was follow the white paper guide and allow your mind to register the information fed through your eyes. It wasn’t until you finally were led to your new bedroom that you permitted yourself to think of anything relevant. _’Pein-sensei is a corpse.’_

The door was already unlocked and there was a key ring with two identical keys sitting on a table nearby. You locked the door and slapped the keys back down where you found them and leaned your back to the door, feeling a little numb on the inside. _’After all this time I never noticed. How didn't I see this sooner? How dense can one person be?!’_  
It was one of those things that made you feel like a complete and utter fool. There had been more than enough occasions where you would be able to figure this out, but during training at least he was so brutal that his pulse was the last thing you thought about...he eats, he moves, he speaks, he even sighs occasionally; these are all signs of life. You also recalled a time when you mended some damage to his Rinnegan. But you never healed a Rinnegan before, and it didn't occur to you that it was probably damage inflicted upon a body that normally cannot handle the stress caused by such a potent doujutsu. This was something you’d need to examine later when you had the chance. 

You pushed away from the door and started forward through the hallway. Something small and white flitted past your ear and hooked a left through the first doorway. You followed it in time to see it unfold and float onto the wooden surface of your kitchen table. It began to unfold more and more, growing in size until it was one large piece of paper. Words started etching across its otherwise blank surface.

 

**‘Saiya-**

**I tried to insist upon getting a larger place for both you and Itachi to stay together. Pein wouldn’t hear of it. I suppose he’s right. No one knows what the future holds.  
** **Currently we are sending people in an attempt to salvage what they can from the ruins; although we do not expect favorable results.  
I will come by later to see you. I also wanted you to know that everyone else is spread out across the city. The only exception to this is Pein, you and I; as the three of us are living in this building. Know that there aren’t really any others who work here except for housekeepers who will arrive to clean once a week so we needn’t concern ourselves with trivial things. For now your home is stocked with basic needs.**

**If you write up a grocery list for when your housekeeper arrives on Monday, the items you require will be bought and taken care of for you. From now on the only person you take care of is _yourself_ since cooking for the team is now obviously out of question and is likely a relief due to our usual workload. **

**I will answer any questions you might have later when I see you.**

**P.S.: I've included a list of everyone's addresses on the back of this page.’**

 

It was not signed; but how could it be from anyone else aside from Konan? You put the note paper down and took in your surroundings, moving from room to room. There was a kitchen, a living room, a master bedroom with a master bathroom, a large study, a second bedroom with smaller bathroom, a linen closet, and an additional room that was bare save for the shelving lining two walls. The colors of the walls alternated between shades of neutral tans, as did some of the carpeting. It was all very bland, but it was plain to see that it was brand new construction, painted as it was to form as a blank slate for any lifestyle.

Bottom line is that it was paid for and it had been turned over to you free of charge, so long as you stayed in Akatsuki you supposed. Since this place—what was it really, a massive apartment?—was actually very large, you had nothing to whine about. It was pretty nice after all. Shit, you would've been happy with a normal sized _bathroom_. 

You ambled into the master bedroom and went straight to what you presumed was the closet—and what a closet it was. This was a walk-in closet with enough room for three adults to stand inside with plenty of elbow room to spare. There was a pair of new Akatsuki cloaks hanging up, and a surplus of empty hangers as well. You sighed at the sight of this. The cloaks were needed of course, but right now all you wanted was pajama pants and a shirt. The clothes you were in smelled after the long round trip you made from headquarters, to Orochimaru’s hideout in a dusty lakebed, to a corpse exchange point in the heart of the wilderness. That was only halfway. After that the cell had traveled from the forest all the way to headquarters again, where you all found out you had to proceed onwards yet again—only for you to double back so you could try your hand at skinning that Madara son-of-a-bitch alive. You did not defeat him and had a run-in with the enigmatic Kitsuna. From then on you had to travel to the Hidden Rain and follow paper butterflies through a concrete jungle to a contact point of your own.

Now you were here after reporting in.

Yep. Yoga pants and a t-shirt would be nice right now. You felt absolutely disgusting and decided to go and at least take a well-warranted bath, and sunk gratefully into the hot water at last when the tub was full. Your filthy clothes were scattered on the floor. You’d been here maybe a half hour now and one room was already a mess.  
That takes some serious skill considering that there aren’t many items in the apartment to make a mess _with_. 

It was almost too quiet for your taste but you had not considered turning on the television in the living room until you were soaking in the tub. Entertainment was farthest from the grasp of your mind. Instead you began thinking of what Konan wrote in her letter. She mentioned trying to get you and Itachi a house to live in together. It was sweet of her to try, but Pein would never go for it. You would’ve told her this if she ran it by you first. Pein never allowed frivolous distractions to get in the way of anyone’s work as long as he could help it. A relationship was probably counted as a distraction to him.

Itachi…

The thought of sharing a bed with him again was a comfortable one. But in this case it wouldn’t be short term. It would have been a permanent arrangement. And who knows; if it worked out and you both lived together for a very long while, would you be considered a married couple by common-law? Was that a law in this nation? You knew of a law like that in the Grass Country. 

But to put things in perspective, if the old place got blown up, who’s to say that won’t happen again? Akatsuki is a big target. There are always shinobi out there hunting for Akatsuki, as if it were rabbit season year round. Everyone in the organization lived fast and died young. Then you revived them.  
Bluntly put, you would never be allowed to live in peace with the man you cared so much for. You both will always be hunted.

When you started dozing off in the bath you caught yourself and got out, dried off and wrapped your hair in a towel. While you did not want to put your grubby things back on, you had little choice, especially since Konan said she would pop up eventually. You dampened a washcloth and did your best to wipe away the grime from your clothes, then put them back on and brushed out your hair. Then you decided to kill an hour by sitting down in the living room and checking your cargo belt to take stock. Thankfully you didn’t use much of anything, but this was all you had to your name in terms of combat supplies. A few vials of poison (all of which were nearly empty, except for an orange one, which was part full), the usual senbon holsters, and one full bottle of mint soldier pills. There was a few smoke bombs, a roll of linen bandages which was three quarters of the way gone, five alcohol wipes, one kunai, and a tanto you had filched from one of your opponents back in Anarchy during the tournament. You tossed out an empty water bottle and sighed hopelessly after also laying down your black wakizashi and katana on the rectangular coffee table which now held all that you owned item-wise. 

It wasn’t too bad, really. Wasn’t too good either. 

After looking at the alcohol wipes, which were worn and tattered at the edges of their little envelope packages, you chose to discard those as well. They probably weren’t so sanitary anymore since they were partially torn open from being jostled about during travels.

A knock came at the front door and you went to go and unlock it. You hadn’t been expecting anyone except Konan, and this is exactly who was there, smiling at you. “Come in.” You murmured, stepping back and sweeping a hand out towards the hallway. She stepped inside and you closed the door, this time choosing not to fasten the lock. 

“How do you like it?” She asked, following you to the living room.  
“A hell of a lot nicer than my old room.”  
“Well you have more than earned it, Saiya.”

You dropped heavily on the sofa; sinking into its cushions and put your head back, closing your eyes with a slow exhalation of breath. Damn, it was comfortable. Konan lowered herself onto the one adjacent to it. “I guess so.” You said, head back and eyes closed. But you shifted and sat upright, grabbing for the nearly-spent roll of bandages and plucked at the frayed end.

“We all lost a lot in the explosion.” Konan said, watching you.  
“Yeah.” You agreed. “Your paperwork was on file there too. That’s all you were doing for as long as I've been with the organization."

She wrinkled her nose. “More was lost than that. Honestly, it’s almost a relief to hear those papers were burned to cinders.”

You inclined an eyebrow and set the bandages down. “And here I thought you’d be mad.”

“My initial reaction had been anger. That was a lot of labor gone in a matter of seconds.”

“Yeah, that’s what happens in our line of work though.”  
A smile revisited to her lips. “Yes.” Konan seemed serene. Maybe having all those damned files blown to smithereens was what she needed to loosen up.  
“Thanks by the way; for trying to get a place for Itachi and I. I appreciate the gesture.”  
“Don’t thank me. Nothing came of it.”  
“Still.”

She picked up the tanto and looked it over, taking it from its sheathe. “Pein elected to spread Akatsuki out so that it would be more difficult to target us. In case someone manages to infiltrate the city, they won’t be able to demolish one building in an attempt to be rid of us all at once.”

“I get that, but if we are separated then we can be picked off one by one and nobody would know until it’s too late.” You responded solemnly, watching her. She put the tanto down and picked up your wakizashi. She touched the sheathe first, examining the Gyaku clan insignia pressed into the leather. 

“I know that woman must have made a great impression on you indeed for you to think like that. You act as if it is a guarantee that we will be assassinated.”

“You didn’t see what I saw. If she didn’t want any survivors I wouldn’t be here right now.” 

Konan unsheathed the wakizashi carefully and proceeded to examine it. “Saiya. You admitted that she took _both_ of you by surprise. Kitsuna only did what you would have done had the situation been reversed; she concealed herself adequately and took advantage of an opportunity when it arose. Even rookies know to do the same; why should she be any different?”

You sat in embittered silence, continuing to watch her. 

“The problem you have, my darling Saiya, is that you don’t lose very often, and usually don’t go off your guard. I suspect that you were so absorbed in the fight with Madara that you didn’t expect an outsider to get involved. Madara was a very formidable shinobi and not just anyone could kill him. With abilities like his, one of two kinds of people could face him: either yourself, who could match his Body Erasing jutsu with the ability to turn into a ghost…or an enemy who could win by completely overpowering him.”

You wanted to disagree and act like a brat. You didn’t want her to be right about any of this. But she was, and the reality of it rang out. 

“So this means that the reason I lived was not purely by her mercy.” You said at last. “It was because she probably exhausted a lot of her chakra in a few moves in order to eradicate him before he got a handle on the situation.”

“Precisely.” Konan agreed warmly. Though not thoroughly convinced, she didn't think it wise to let you pout for the whole damn day. If believing that is what you needed to do, so be it. Though she would be the first to admit that she knew nothing of this 'Kitsuna' person. “Uchiha Madara was well known throughout most of the nations. He was something of a historical figure. A man in his position doesn’t survive long without talent, especially having been around as long as he was. Yoriwara Kitsuna’s mission may have been the same as yours that day and you each had a different strategy. Hers won out. But the bottom line is that he is _dead_.”

You nodded. Two kinds of people could kill Madara. Both of which were present. Of course he would die, despite his undeniable prowess in battle. But you had been too shaken by what you witnessed. It is very rare to see a Yoriwara exhibit their kekkei-genkai. And now you knew _why_. It was dreadfully powerful and burned a load of chakra. Yet there was a part of your brain, a little tiny voice, saying that you knew what you saw, and that she wasn't even tired after that. Kitsuna was the epitome of nonchalance and...elegance, somehow. She slaughtered the man without faltering a step, and built an epitaph around his soul after incinerating his shell. This woman had been the picture of a gracious victor. There'd been some aspect that was missing from her, and upon reflection, you determined that it was animosity. She killed this man out of necessity, not personal conflict. What did that say about Madara? Towards the end, was he actually out of his depth? If so, what could be expected next?

“I’ve…been a fool.” You admitted after another minute, shoulders rounding forward. You hung your head and propped your elbows on your knees, glyph-marked hands continuously re-rolling the spare roll of bandages. “I saw what I saw and everything left my head. She poured so much chakra into her attacks that when I dove under water to put out the fire on my clothes, the water began to boil after her jutsu passed over the stream. The moment she appeared neither Madara nor myself knew what _hit_ us. There was no time to look…and even less of a chance to react. There was no thought. There was only panic. Sheer, animal panic.”

Konan continued to hold your wakizashi in her grasp. Her eyes were upon you as you spoke, while you stared at the bandages in hand, continually unwinding and rewinding them on their cardboard spool.  
“It was like war.” Konan translated after you fell silent. The timbre of her voice had lowered considerably. If you had been paying attention to this, you would understand that it was a topic that reached far into her soul.

War. 

“I guess so.” You said. “I imagine that’s how a citizen would feel if they were going about their normal life; and suddenly, there is nothing but blinding light and deafening noises.”

“It is.” Konan admitted darkly. “I know that situation well.” She stared down at her hands now too.

“Your ears are ringing…” She took a breath.  
“…The ground beneath you is shuddering, making you miss every other step while you run as fast as you can. If you could see, if you could hear…you would pick the least threatening direction. But you are blinded by the explosions. There are no bodies nearby at first, until you start tripping over them, or are grabbed by the unyielding hands of the enemy, and have a sword pressed to your jugular. If you are big or small, it doesn’t matter—you can’t see what they look like, their faces are shapeless masses framed against blinding flashes and blazing infernos. There was once a building beside you, but it is gone now…all that was familiar in the landscape has been obliterated…you don’t know where to go…or why it is happening.”

Her description captured you. Your eyes went out of focus as you imagined it, no longer seeing the object in your hands. But you would snap out of it when she raised her voice from a dead whisper.  
“That, Saiya, was my childhood.”

You made eye contact with her, or tried, but she was not looking back.  
“Sounds like you had a hard life.”

“Yes.” She agreed readily. “We all did.”

You didn’t press her, but you got the impression she wasn’t talking about you or the others.

“Anyway.” You decided to change the subject. “I’m glad things have turned out okay so far.” You watched her now pick up your katana, then stand up, holding it at her side in one hand, and unsheathed it with the other. Your eyes followed the black blade as it parted from its cover. Kalahn did an incredible job on it. You absently wondered if she found a nice place to live after Anarchy was invaded.  
“Yes, preparations are nearing completion. Aside from Pein’s request, you can rest and recharge, as can the others.”

You blinked. “So you _don’t_ want me to work with the Amegakure Medic Division?”

“Pein hasn’t said anything about it.” She said, blinking a little herself as she held the beautiful katana up at eye level. “I would say probably not, considering that Akatsuki operates on a whole other level. Although I wouldn’t be surprised if your assistance is requested on a separate basis to that end.”

“Oh?”

“We’re aiming for open war, mainly to distribute a heightened level of fear and pain amongst the masses. Amegakure alone will be mostly removed from the direct conflict until the enemy brings the fight to _us_.”

“That’s a gamble isn’t it?”

Konan sighed. “Look, Saiya. This nation is accustomed to war, more so than the others I would say. We have always been in the midst of conflict since this land has ever been used as the battleground between nations on either side.”

“Geographically that makes sense. Since this nation is smaller than the others, they would not be as threatened since this land has always been embroiled in strife as you say.” A smirk curled the left corner of your mouth. “However this time they’ll be walking into a deathtrap. When the Tailed Demons are completely harnessed, Pein could choose to either distribute them as planned or keep them and demolish the offensive when it is least expected. Besides, I’m sure Hidan at least would be interested in some carnage. He’s always looking for a reason to cut loose—and then there’s Sasori, who would have the opportunity to appropriate fresh corpses of powerful ninja that will be drawn to the war so he can broaden his own puppet army. The others might go out into the fray for reasons of their own. But if we come under attack, Konan, I think I can speak for everyone in Akatsuki when I say that none of us will take it lying down if our home is under attack a second time.”

Konan smiled. “You’re right. None of us will take it lightly.”

You nodded. “Now, uh…” You addressed the state of your clothing with a gesture. “Where’s a decent store? I need to shop for a whole wardrobe.”

“…Oh!” Konan’s eyes widened. You stood up and she could easily see the damage to your apparel; the singe marks in places from that fight, the dust you hadn’t managed to get rid of, and plenty of stains all over the place. She removed her black and red cloak and stood up. “Yes, uhm…let’s go take care of that now. Have you got money?”

“Oh yeah, lots of that…but I don’t know my way around this city yet except for the rooftops.” You reached for your katana but she snapped it back into its sheath and put it down. “You won’t need this, trust me. The streets here are safer than you’d think.”

“Oh, if Pein-sensei rules supreme here, I’m sure that’s correct…but it’s just that I feel naked without that sword.” You said, blinking at her. She did not yield. “No. Leave it.”

“Hey, won’t I be sending the wrong message here if I walk out onto the street looking like this and I’m not even armed?!”

“You’re also wearing your hitai-ate. That’ll be enough.”

“Are you shitting me?! That makes it look even worse!”

“No it doesn’t, trust me!”

“Konan, look at me! I mean really, look at me here! I look like a bum that got tossed out of her village onto her ass!”

Konan slapped a hand to her forehead and wished for strength. “Fine, fine, if you’ll stop complaining you can take your weapons with you, but I’m telling you that it’s going to be a pain in the ass when you’re trying on new clothes.”

“So!?”

“Oh please, I already said you can take the katana with you!”

You grumbled and instead picked up the wakizashi. “Here. Compromise. It’s shorter.”

She gave a deadpan look and turned on her heel for the door. “Okay, come on. The sooner we get this done with, the better.”

You followed in here wake, laughing your head off the whole way. You weren’t laughing for long though, following her through the streets you got plenty of stares. It was raining hard and you didn’t have anything but your Akatsuki cloaks back at your place, so you chose not to wear one. The fact that Konan had left hers on the couch was a sound indicator that you should also go without your own. 

The rain felt good and comforting though, and you glanced up towards the sky while traveling mostly under large overhangs bordering the streets. The first clothing store was not too crowded, there were some girls and women dotting the spaces between racks, and you set to work on finding something decent. It was right after academy was over for the day, judging by the number of younger ninja pouring through the rain-slicked avenues from one direction. After you bought some things to wear and threw on a new outfit in the changing room, you left and glanced around while dutifully following Konan with your purchases in hand. 

“How nostalgic.” You voiced.  
“Hm?”  
“Ah...a little silly, but I haven’t seen students leaving an academy since I broke ties from Kusagakure.” You left out the part where you stalked and shishkabob'd three preteens from the Cloud academy. That had a whole other spin on it entirely.

Konan redirected her gaze ahead, not smiling, not frowning either. She maintained a specific façade out in the open when she was here. When passing certain businesses you noticed white origami angels hanging in store windows. Your eyebrows lifted after you both passed the seventh business with an angel in its front window or doorway. “Konan, are all these little angels made after _you_?”

“I suppose so.” She answered after a minute. “This is why I elected not to wear my cloak in public. They will not recognize me as easily without it.”

“How’s that exactly, they never seen your face?” You asked right away.

“Oh, I’m sure some of them have, but I’m more known by sight than Pein. No one here knows what he looks like, except for Akatsuki to a degree.”

“ ‘To a degree’?” You repeated inquisitively. Yes, you'd seen his spare bodies, but you figured that those were the extent of it. Was there more to this than you knew?

She hesitated. “Eventually you will understand what I mean.” As she turned to enter another shop, you noticed that she had removed the usual paper rose from her hair. A little surprising, considering that you never saw her without it. The issue was dropped while shopping, and most of your conversations from then on hinged upon clothes, and eventually…guys.

“Sooo?” Konan began with girlish enthusiasm.  
“Soooooo what?”

“Have you both…you know…”

“No, I’m afraid I _don’t_ know.” You answered arrogantly, walking through the sleepy hallways to your apartment. Konan took the keys from your pocket and unlocked the door. You bustled inside and happily dropped all your baggage on the table, then promptly began examining your hands for blisters from the plastic bag handles against your skin for hours.

“Oh please spare me the naïveté Saiya. Have you done IT yet?”

“Oh. That.”

“Well?”

“No, not yet.” You maintained your composure, and were amazed you hadn’t blushed scarlet. 

Konan stopped short and affixed you with a critical stare. “Are you telling me that you shared a hotel room with Itachi for all that time in Anarchy and you never..?”

“We did some things, but nothing dramatic.” You answered offhandedly, as though it had been nothing then and was nothing now. But her enthusiasm was almost off-putting, and you tried to brush off the conversation and carried your purchases into your room, depositing them onto your bed. “But uh, you know, I didn’t really see him often before I left with Hidan and Kakuzu to go ‘headhunting’.” 

“Funny you should mention that.” She said, now helping to sort tops from bottoms. “I know that Pein’s had Itachi and Kisame out on espionage recently, I didn’t think it would take them as long as it had.”

“Yeah well let’s say that living with him sounds more and more appealing.” You said from within the closet as you put underwear away. Konan had talked you into buying a few extra things you normally wouldn't consider. While putting them away, you found that strangely you weren’t embarrassed for yourself just by looking at them. Konan peeked over your shoulder at the now-filled lingerie drawer and smiled sweetly, yet wickedly. “That's the spirit. Saiya has finally grown up, I would say.”

“Bite me.” You snapped crossly, snatching a few pairs of pants from her hands and hung them up. She laughed and put away the other pairs you hadn’t grabbed. “Oh come on, it’s not so bad. I’m happy for you, I am.” She said, now appearing to be genuinely well meaning. “I can tell how you feel about him; especially with how you were when he was out for a long time on that intelligence mission.”

“Huh?” You asked, turning to her. “What do you mean?” 

“You were kind of…down…whenever I saw you.” 

“Of course I missed him, but I also had a lot on my mind too, it wasn’t all about Itachi.” You admitted.

“That’s understandable.” She responded, now helping to hang up some shirts. “But I can tell there’s tension and you need to do something about it. What, are you waiting for him to make all the moves?”

“Ohhhhhoho! THAT’S why you tried to talk me into getting that bustier!”

“Actually I wanted to see if you’d really buy it, that thing would’ve looked ridiculous on anyone. If you leaned down just a little bit you would’ve spilled out of it!”

“Har har har." Then, more seriously, "Thanks for helping me by the way, I was worried I’d get lost out there.”

“Anytime.” She answered. 

“So it’s close to supper, I’ll make us dinner if you like.” You offered. Konan chuckled. “No don’t waste your time, you won’t have much to work with in there until Monday. Let’s go out to eat, I know some good places.”  
You agreed and left with her to go get some food.

 

_Within the Village Hidden in the Clouds…_

 

Stygian figures ringed the octagonal room, each standing between the eight pillars. There was but one extra person, and this ninth individual stood in the middle of the room, her ever-shifting eyes set forward only as she was scrutinized.

“Gyaku Saiya, you say.” The one straight ahead mused aloud. “This woman is an Akatsuki, is she not?”

“She wore their colors.” She responded simply. 

Someone from behind piped up in a flat monotone. “Yet you say that this Gyaku Saiya was attacking the late Uchiha Madara, whom also identified with the Akatsuki?” This was not a real question. It was a statement.

“Yes.”

“Why, then, did you allow the Gyaku Prodigy to live?” An older sounding woman queried.

“It was not her life that I was ordered to take. I was to assassinate Uchiha Madara, and none other.”

“Allow me to put this into perspective for you, Yoriwara.” The deepest, most imposing male voice deadpanned from directly in front of her. “ _All_ of Akatsuki is the enemy. Not only one of them…but _every single one of them_.”

Before Kitsuna could respond, another voice headed her off at the pass. As her lips barely parted, a younger, calmer male voice resounded gently from a far corner. “The Yoriwara Clan has carried a ponderous burden for many lifetimes. I understand the reason for all these questions; but consider the following also: in the past, they have been punished tremendously for overstepping the boundaries of any mission, large or small. It is greatly understandable…and even expected, that Yoriwara Kitsuna would seek only to fulfill her mission and leave when it is done. I would thank you not to penalize or cross-examine her for not taking the initiative you currently wish that she would have, when it was never within her right to do so.”

There was now an unnatural silence after this speech. Kitsuna’s eyes did not waver from their mark. They were currently changing to a pensive shade of gray. When that individual spoke, all listened. He spoke softly but could back up every word tenfold. The youngest of the council, this shinobi had rapidly progressed to also be the most feared…even by the Yoriwara, whom were notorious for fearing nothing in their ‘immortality’.  
Although he was not head of the Council of Eight, every syllable he uttered carried such weight that even the most seasoned veterans here valued his opinions.

Kitsuna never could decide if she should place fear or trust in him; perhaps a healthy combination of both. But one thing was for certain. If he didn’t speak out in her favor, she certainly wouldn’t be let off the hook in the least. Yes, she understood why the Council of Eight found flaw with her for not killing that medic when she had the chance. But if she did so, she would be proven wrong for it. Similarly, since she did _not_ kill Gyaku Saiya, they nevertheless blamed her. Killing was never up there on the list of pastimes she enjoyed. So for this Yoriwara at least, it was better to let a person live if she was to be made wrong either way.

After all, it was not the first time this happened. It was true, what had been said about their missions. The Yoriwara Clan always had been given missions that exceeded S-Class ANBU Black Ops. These missions are usually very much cutthroat in nature, and if one slip-up occurs, things spin out of control easily. A Yoriwara can live through things that no one else can. For this they were given missions that have roughly a 5%-0% probability of success. They are the suicide squads of Kumogakure.

Oh, but it wasn’t all bad. To be perfectly trite; those whom have power seek to use it. When a shinobi lives for centuries, they are bound to train and perfect moves that masters ordinarily must pass on to apprentices for completion. With great power like this particular Clan has, a slip-up becomes much more costly than it would with other ninja. Their idea of holding back isn’t the same; after all, a sense of proportion becomes skewed after awhile.

Kitsuna was excused from the chamber and she left, trying to conceal her enthusiasm towards being let out of that dank room. Gyaku Saiya, hmm? She survived the backlash of her attacks with minor strain. In fact, Kitsuna suspected that she wouldn’t have gotten her clothes on fire if she had noticed what was happening a fraction of a second sooner. That medic’s reaction time was impressive. Superb, even. 

But what actually cast a shadow of concern over Kitsuna’s face was the fact that this particular medic could change into a ghost, but there was more to it. She heard rumors before, but was traveling when Gyaku Saiya arrived here to capture Killer Bee in his Demon form. There was _still_ wreckage at the battle site from then. 

Kitsuna arrived at the Yoriwara Compound and blinked suddenly vivid green eyes at her elder brother when he appeared in front of her not three minutes after walking in the gates. 

“Where the hell have you been?” He demanded, crossing his arms.  
“On a mission, what’s your excuse?” Kitsuna shot back a little more sharply than intended.  
“Hmph, you should’ve seen the look on father’s face when he found out that you got summoned to the Council chamber.”  
She blinked again. “Oh, that’s what you meant. I took the long way home from there. No big deal.”  
“I figured. Told him not to get his panties in a bunch.”  
Kitsuna blanched. “You said that to his face?!”  
“Actually, yeah.” He grinned like a maniac and turned to start walking. She fell into step beside her taller sibling.  
“So I heard that there was some interference on your mission.”  
“Word certainly travels fast…yes, Gyaku Saiya got there before me. Uchiha Madara and her were deadlocked from the looks of things; it wasn’t about to go anywhere fast so I intervened. Besides. I’d never hear the end of it if she killed him before I could. I'd be tossed in the Halls of Atonement faster than you can say 'welcome home'.”

“This is true, but it wouldn’t have been a problem in the first place if the Council let us go rip her to pieces with Killer Bee when they were fighting.” He slammed a fist into his opposite palm. Kitsuna frowned lightly. “What…?”

“Megami intervened. I was _so_ pissed.”  
“I’ll bet you were!”  
“I mean, come on, they never give me anything to do anymore!”  
“Want to know my opinion?”  
He raised his eyebrows. “Huh?”  
“Your testosterone is getting the better of you.”  
“That was so un-funny I forgot to laugh.”  
“Heeheeeeeeee…”

 

_With You…_

You were out for a couple hours, just relaxing and having a nice meal with your best friend, but afterwards she had somewhere to be, and you were content to go home. Now you were unlocking your front door and heading inside for the night. It was something else you had to get used to now; since you will be staying here from now on. This is a full blown living space; not only a bedroom and microscopic bathroom. 

It was a little stuffy in here so you opened a few windows and sat in one of them, watching the unyielding rain with the lights off in your room. You learned from Konan that if you should ever need to relay a message to Pein, you could reach out with a small amount of chakra in your hand and let the water gather into your palm. It rained here always for a reason; so that he would know about intruders. But using that trick of hand that Konan told you about, the rain could work in your favor as well to get his attention. Right now you did not need to speak with Pein, so you didn’t bother him. As it was, you recalled mention that both Konan and Pein live in this building is well, but not on the same floor. It did strike you as odd that they'd put you in the same place as them, but then it was easy to write that off as keeping you at a close proximity for when you could work on healing up Pein's spare bodies. 

When you got bored of sitting and thinking, you hopped off the sill and went digging about for some night clothes. After changing into something comfortable, you were going to go and lay down in bed; except it was hard to miss the person taking up your window, leaning his back against the threshold. You padded over to him and placed a hand on his cheek, making him turn his head to look at you with those unfathomable obsidian eyes. He was dripping wet, too. 

There was a moment where eye contact was made. You could tell that he was in an exceedingly somber mood, and when you lowered your hand, you realized that your palm was smeared with blood. There was one long cut across his cheek.

“Itachi, what happened?” You asked intently, now making him turn his head further to the side so you could examine it. 

“Sasuke.” In a word, this was enough. But of course he would elaborate if prodded, he sensed that you would pursue further information. And there was no point in hiding it.

You grasped his arm and tried to make him stand up, leaning back with all your weight, not that he budged an inch. Itachi watched before getting up on his own, a hand moving to your shoulder to steady you from dropping backwards. He remembered you doing this back in Anarchy. 

“Are you going to tell me how you ran into him?” You asked, now helping to rid him of his sopping wet cloak, put it in a place where it wouldn’t soak the rug, and then led him to your living room where your ninja stuff was spread out still. His cloak had absorbed so much of the rain that his clothes were only slightly damp, but you didn’t really care. It was his injuries that you cared about—there was more than just the one.

“He sought me out on his own. I admit that I allowed him to find me.” 

“Not that crap again.” You grunted under your breath, now cleansing the blood from his facial wound before placing your hand over his cheek and focusing chakra upon it. 

“Hm?”

“What’s it about again? Seeing if he’s worthy or something?”

“…” That's wasn't fully it, but he wasn't sure he wanted to get into that right now.

“I’m guessing he’s getting close.”

“Somewhat.”

“Look, Itachi. I want a straight answer. Are you going to let him kill you one of these days?” You had moved on to another injury. This one wasn’t as bad. Head wounds always bleed like a bitch, which is why your entire palm had been coated before. Alas. Itachi did not give an answer. You stopped what you were doing long enough to make eye contact again, and nearly froze. The look in his eyes was entirely unlike any you’d seen. He didn't really look... _sad_...but he certainly wasn't pleased, either. And you weren't certain that the term 'grim' was adequate. 

“Many years ago, I massacred my family to prevent them from carrying out a coup against Konoha.” Itachi began in a low, almost soft timbre. You wiped your hands off and listened, devoting your attention to him. “There were only a few survivors. Sasuke, Madara, and myself. I did not know that Megami was still alive.”

You could do nothing but nod helplessly and listen, though you didn't recall telling him about her. Did she contact him?

“I instilled within Sasuke a hatred that would eventually compose every fiber of his being. It was the only way I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he would train every day of his life to surpass me and avenge our clan.” 

Again, you would nod, having nothing else to do. You made short work of his wounds, there really wasn't many of them and none were severe.

“All along, Madara blackmailed me into carrying out his orders. I wanted my brother to be able to defend against Madara and kill him one day, as I knew that I could not. Upon my death, I would be able to pass a form of the Mangekyou Sharingan on to Sasuke. It would protect him from Madara in my absence.”

“But now Madara is dead.” You responded, searching his eyes.

“Yes.” Itachi answered. 

“So you don’t have to do that anymore, right? You don’t have to keep fighting Sasuke?”

“I calculated every detail past my death.” He responded. “Sasuke craves vengeance and it will drive him foreword until he achieves it. Except now, the person whom I went to great measures against is dead far in advance. I failed to take you into account, Saiya.”

“But I’m not the one who killed him, Itachi. It was another, who went by the name Kitsuna.” You responded almost weakly. The whole thing happened not long ago and you weren't over it. “I realized that I couldn't possibly have competed with Madara in the end. I appreciate the roundabout sentiment, but…”

“No.” He interrupted. “I was not going to outlive my brother. Now I am faced with likely having to kill him since Madara is no longer a threat.”

“And that’s never what you wanted…” You filled it in, watching him. “You…really love him, don’t you.”

“Yes. I always have, even if he doesn’t think so. Sasuke is my younger brother.”

He said this as if you would understand. As if you would catch that drift, that ‘of course I love him, he’s my sibling’ card. But you found yourself drawing a blank. You never had that in your life. You never cared about your siblings, but you certainly pretended to care about them in a ‘big sis’ way to put on a front in public, with the added benefit of making life at home tolerable. But you didn’t know what it was to have a _good_ family. The Gyaku Clan was austere on the exterior but closely knit behind doors; those relatives that identified with one another anyway. Being a kunoichi; you were sort of excluded as the black sheep of the family and that was exactly how you preferred it. That was how you could get away with murder. Literally. Though they dabbled in death, it was for other reasons, and never had to do with the ninja arts. They were involved in dangerous affairs of their own that you never aimed to be a part of.

“I...see.” You said, realizing that he awaited a response. At his newly blank expression, you hastily added, “Sorry. I was trying to think of what that’s like.”

“What?”  
“To actually love someone in your family.”

It was so strange to you. This man was capable of murdering them, because in the end, it saved more lives. If your memory served, allowing Danzo to deal with the situation would have resulted in slaughtered innocents as well as the entire Uchiha Clan. He lived, undoubtedly, the hardest existence of anyone you knew. Itachi wasn't overcome by angst as one might think he'd be. His only regret appeared to be that he couldn't account for every last angle, because there are unknown factors in the world capable of presenting themselves at the least opportune moment. This man's fortitude was astounding. His story was beyond sad, and yet he never saw it as such. And now the Madara problem is resolved; however an issue with Sasuke remained.

Watching his expression you could tell that Itachi was crossed between getting it and _not_ getting it. Which, in your mind, meant that he came from a loving home. “How would you not know?”

“I never really cared about them, and the feeling was mutual.” You voiced, face equally blank. As if this, too, was obvious. “It started when I asked if I could enroll in the academy. No one in my clan liked ninja, and it was sort of a taboo amongst them. Sometimes a ‘prodigy’ is born,” You used air quotes on that one. “And I guess I’m one of them.” You finished with a shrug. “I got no help from my family on how to perfect techniques. Instead, they taught me things involving finances, botany, and chemistry...y'know, like with the distillery, brewery and winery. But I learned that I enjoyed the practice of chemistry and expanded upon it. From a young age I was taught _that_ stuff, and my father and uncles were real sticklers for it. But when my brothers came of age, I got thrown into learning finances whenever I wasn't at the academy or training with Pein, hence why I'm so good with money and numbers. Sure, in hindsight I did catch a few skills from them that turned me into who I am today, but...well...affection? There wasn't any of that. They were too busy trying to make me into somebody I never was.” It had been his turn to focus on you with nothing to say now. Itachi was far from giving advice on your slain family; because while it had been for entirely different reasons, he had done the same damned thing.

Itachi was sort of down; and you’d never seen him like this before. Already it set distaste in your mouth at the thought of him continuing to act the way he was. Touching as it is that he’s comfortable enough around you to display the full array of emotion, all it would do right now was spur you into acting un-Saiya-ish too. You bit back a sigh. You weren’t very good at this kind of thing, but you’d give it a shot.

“When you get to the core of the reason, Itachi, what you did for Sasuke is honorable. Ultimately you would have sacrificed yourself for him.” You gave a wry smile. “And you gave _so_ much for your country. You have gone to lengths that nobody else would have." You placed a slim finger upon his chest, over his heart, and tapped twice to punctuate the point. " _You_ are an unsung hero. _You_ are a great man. And don't ever think otherwise."

He agreed solemnly with a nod. Itachi wasn't one to get involved in fancy ceremonies or occasions, all his life he kept his head down and worked to get as far as he could, and worried after his clan, and took it upon himself to cure a problem that the Hokage did nothing to soothe. You looked back up at him. “Feeling any better?”

“It'll remain on my mind for a long time, Saiya.” He responded, pointing out that it wouldn't go away after a few words. Man, you were terrible at making people feel better...but he appreciated that you wanted to try.

“Yeah, but why let it eat away at you?!”

A pause. Your outburst would’ve startled him if he was one to spook easily. His attentions were divided between the conversation at hand, and consideration for his wayward brother. Talk about sympathy for the devil, huh?  
Although with a raised voice, you had his attention. And for the moment, he began to remember a promise he made. That he’d stay with you. 

And tonight, he just went and told his presently very exhausted, very worn-thin, homicidal kunoichi girlfriend (with a penchant for some serious death-inducing firepower) that he was lined up for the slaughter all the while. By extension this means he had made a promise he can’t keep, but right now it was hard to say whether or not this was what had upset you. 

Note to self: Must not upset homicidal girlfriend with more stopping power in her left pinky finger than Deidara's nukes.

As he watched you had gotten up and went into your bedroom without a comprehensible word, a funny look on your face that he couldn’t figure out. Turned out that Itachi wasn’t good at this crap either. All this time of ladies fawning over him and he was just now getting more seriously involved with a woman years later—he was pretty damned rusty on this whole ‘women are sensitive’ thing. Even the homicidal ones, apparently.

He stood up and followed after a moment of thought about how to proceed from here. He knew that he should probably tread cautiously, or he’d be in the doghouse. Something like that. Although there was a specific factor he always had to his advantage; and that is the uncanny ability to make you blush. 

You had been moving towards the bed and Itachi stopped you by grasping your shoulder and turning you towards him. You seemed irked at this action but did nothing in turn.

“I understand.” He murmured to you, lips barely moving. “And I wanted to ask; am I only here for you, or are you here for me as well?”

You were a bit startled. How could he think otherwise? “Of _course_ I am Itachi, why else would I get so frustrated?” You confirmed, albeit a hair awkwardly.  
“Then bear with me.” He answered softly, and already, just before he leaned in for a kiss, you found yourself blushing at his lowered tone of voice. You closed your eyes and tilted your head, kissing him in return. There was an impulse nagging at you. It started as a thought that put images and curious ideas in your head…then you started to feel more aroused while Itachi shifted his hand down from your shoulder to your back, not that it stopped there. 

When he was slipping his hand under your clothing though, sliding it down—that’s when you got a good idea of just _how_ far it was about to go.


	41. Blood In The Water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fog of conspiracy thickens. It should be close to the end...and yet...somehow...you know the real trouble is only beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rhig: WOOO! This is the last chapter of StR. As always, thanks for the support, all! Itachi?
> 
> Itachi: She never has, and never will own Naruto.
> 
> Rhig: You know guys, I’m feeling the sudden, arresting urge to write a fic involving Kabuto, now. o.o’ Thoughts? Also, totally excited that I'm done editing StR:1!! As a fair warning when I copy and paste my chapters they appear to miss snippets and tags go wacky, I'll need to be more careful of that.
> 
> *P.S.: Directly after I post this chapter, StR2 will be put up and there are several more chapters to it waiting in the wings for one more revision before posting. The sequel will be called.... Slighting The Reaper II: The Onslaught Continues

Blood In The Water

 

You awoke from a fitful slumber and the first thing you noted is that you were not alone. There was the familiar sight of Itachi snoozing beside you, with his face turned against a pillow, his black hair undone from the usual ponytail and tousled from the night’s activities.

Which led you to the second part, here. You blinked, lifted up the sheets and peeked, then dropped them in shock.

 _’Okay. What the fuck did we do, and how many times did we do it?’_ You thought, trying to remain steady. The sight of his naked body was familiar merely from peeping on him in the shower as you had before. But what was _not_ normal in this case, was the little fact that both of you were naked _in bed_ together. Little by little your mind uncovered itself from the morning haze and you recollected some of the details. _And_ how many times you did it.

Which was three, by the way.

Yes. You were sore in a way you never had been before and did not wish to move. A glance around the room showed you that the clothes were lost in short order, as they were deposited on the floor, and to your side, his shirt had landed on your bedside table this side of the bed, draped over a rectangular shape with a muffled orange glow trying its best to make it through the fabric. You reached over to lift one sleeve away, and found a clock sitting cockeyed on the table. It read ‘1:57 PM’.

That's crazy late! A squeak caught in your throat and you slapped a hand over your mouth to stifle yourself, lest you inadvertently wake the one beside you. At least it was an anomaly excusable for now; and you’d been told before to take the opportunity to relax. But that was a big part of the day! Though come to think of it, you both finished pretty late, or it felt that way anyhow. Whenever you moved you wondered if your cervix was bruised; though you were pretty happy all things considered. For starters, the undeniable tension that had been locked within you was now gone, and secondly, you hoped that you'd be a bit less gutter-brained now. This was like a normal person’s weekend night (or so you were told); go shopping, get dinner out, come home, have sex, sleep late. 

Yesssssssss, happppyyyyy. Nothing says ‘happy’ like a bruised cervix.  
Apparently.

Itachi was heavily asleep with zero signs of wakening. While you didn’t want to move with the ache throbbing far within you, a shower was needed. It was late in the day and this room looked like a disaster area; clothes _everywhere_. You sat up and swung your legs over the edge of the bed and paused to wince at the motion, sheets currently pooled around your lower back. He had been extremely rough during the last session; which you had no objections to, but it was coming back to haunt you now. You suspected the ache had more to do with _that_ and less to do with the actual loss of virginity. Oh well. Active lifestyle considered, you were a bit amazed that the hymen didn't tear years ago on its own. There had been a thimbleful of blood at first and only a minor twinge, but otherwise was comfortable enough...nothing compared to the horror stories which initially made you so nervous. Besides, didn't hurt so bad when compared with past injuries. If anything was to be learned from this, it's that intimacy wasn't scary and sex was not so much the big deal you had been made to believe. He'd been quite patient with you and it was enjoyable. Were it not for your poor cervix you might've slept nicely after that, but instead had fractured dreams which you couldn't remember anymore.

You forced yourself to your feet and went into the bathroom after grabbing some clothes from your closet and got to showering thoroughly. Gradually your body became less reluctant to move. The morning grogginess was hard to shake off today because you overslept; but the water as always washed that away.

After showering, drying off and dressing you wandered into your bedroom and separated the clothes on the floor into two mounds; his, and yours, and placed them in separate spots. Itachi shifted to his side and the blankets slumped half off the bed, barely covering his midsection. You suppressed a laugh and tugged them over his shoulder and his legs, then chose to let him snooze. With two meals past it was time to dig around in the kitchen for food though there really wasn't much of anything to work with, certainly no perishables. As a joke, some 'thoughtful' soul chose to fill a cabinet with your very favorite instant chicken ramen, and put the sole box of plain tea next to that, as if to make certain you'd see the ramen. This elicited a scowl from you, and you momentarily  
wondered who was ballsy enough to do this so you could reciprocate their kind gesture. Housekeeping sure would have their work cut out for them. On Monday, they could come by and do their thing, so you decided to make sure there was a list made up and put it where it would be easily found on the counter. It was a lengthy list too since there was more than food on it; but cooking utensils and some basic medical implements as well. 

While you were doing this you perceived the sound of water running in the bathroom and you knew that Itachi was awake and showering. You felt a tiny stab of guilt for not having been right there when he awoke, but it wasn’t as though you ran off. You continued to have no real clue about whatever type of etiquette surrounds these situations. 

Since there wasn’t anything very palatable in the kitchen right now you decided to sit down and turn on the television then gradually pack away the items that were spread out on the coffee table. When Itachi emerged, shirtless and with damp hair, you were examining your katana before resheathing it and looked up at him. “Afternoon.” You greeted. He sat down on the couch adjacent this one.  
“Good afternoon.” He responded.

“Late, eh.” You remarked dryly. “Slept well?”

“Better than you did.” Itachi said, walking over and leaning down to steal a quick kiss then proceeded to walk around the couch, continuing to muss his hair with a towel. He seemed placid and content. Maybe it was okay that you weren't right next to him when he awoke after all. Then again, you _could_ be making this into more than it is. “You know,” You began. “Konan tried to get us a place to live in together, you and I. Pein-sensei flat down refused.” You raised your eyebrows at him. “He doesn’t want me too distracted according to her.”

It was Itachi’s turn to cock an eyebrow. “I’m a distraction, am I?”

“I don’t think you are. Pein-sensei does.”

“Perhaps I should distract you more often.” He teased gently, his voice dropping to a lower, more sensual timbre. 

“I’d like that.” You answered with a sly grin. Before either of you could get some cute ideas however; the news caught your attention as well as his. It was about the current state of affairs between the ninja nations and how tensions could be cut with a knife. Purse strings were tightened, and nowadays about a third of the manpower of each hidden village was allocated to border patrol. 

“…And that’s not all, here’s Mio Tamaka live from the Hidden Leaf. Mio, what’s going on over there?”

“Well there is a lot of tension in the air as you know, but it’s for more than one reason. Nearly all the carriers of the infamous Tailed Beasts have been detained by a criminal organization known as Akatsuki, which is composed of certain S-Class missing-nin. The Hidden Leaf however appears to have their jinchuuriki: Uzamaki Naruto is here safe and sound and right now the Leaf seems to be the only one with a hope of easily withstanding invasion from other nations.” Mio said, maintaining her professional demeanor. 

The male news anchor continued with yet another comment and question. “So you know it, I know it...everyone's heard talk of war now. Do you know anything about what's causing this conflict?”

A moment’s pause, then, “Yes, it certainly is a hot topic. On the streets here in Konoha concern has been voiced that the other nations will band together and attack; however these are allegedly baseless assumptions and the Hokage has issued more security to the border should any conflicts arise.”

“So it sounds like the public is nearly in frenzy!” Exclaimed the male news anchor.

“Yes that’s correct.” Mio Tamaka confirmed. Behind her was the Hokage monuments carved in a mountainside, and the city sprawled out beneath it. “Local authorities urge the public to be at ease. The Hokage will take every precaution to protect the people and there should be nothing to worry about.”

“Alright Mio Tamaka, live at the Hidden Leaf; thank you very much…don’t touch that remote, there’s more on this story after these messages.” The news anchor narrated, and it switched over to some commercials for anti-aging skin cream.

“I’m amazed they are airing that information on television.” You voiced, watching a middle-aged woman go through a miraculous transformation up-close; from pale lizard skin to perfect soft and smooth peach flesh.

“They must tell the public something.” Itachi answered. 

“And they want to make it seem as though the Leaf is untouched, too. We _took_ the Kyuubi from Naruto.” You were puzzled. “He didn’t die because Sasuke did something to him; I don’t remember what. It may very well not have been Sasuke who did it either. He might’ve had Karin funnel her chakra into him, she had little indentations all over her body that perforated directly into her energy. In hindsight, I think they were scarred bite marks.”

“Whichever it was, he's alive. And he played host to the Kyuubi for so long that a remnant of the demon’s power may continue to exist within him.” Itachi said.

“That’s right. And since I’ve heard that this Naruto brat has survived some tough scrapes before; he’s always been hard to kill---his affinity towards the Kyuubi might have been the very thing that saved him and Sasuke might’ve barely helped.”

“They will continue to use him as a smoke screen.” He responded. “And he may have never told them.”

“That’s a dangerous bluff.” You remarked, raising your eyebrows. “This makes a perfect climate for Pein-sensei’s plans, according to him.” Then you nearly facepalmed. “Damn it! I have an assignment I haven’t finished; and he is going to want that done shortly if the plans are about to set into motion now.” You stood up and slipped your katana and wakizashi between some belts. “I don’t have anything decent to eat around here. Want to go out and get something?”

“I could eat.” He shrugged, standing up too and going to finish getting dressed. You admired his physique for a moment then continued getting ready to leave as well. When about to leave he pressed your back to the door and stole a kiss, and you kissed back, a little surprised that he had become more assertive. It was pretty hot, actually.

Shortly you would both head on out to find somewhere to eat, and found a sushi bar on the mid level of the city. The Hidden Rain was divvied up into several rings with a few rising higher than the others. Though it was also chock full of skyscrapers that defied these levels. Before you knew it you were having a cup of miso soup alongside a plate of sashimi, and Itachi was having something similar...its _always_ crappy out around here, so hot soup was appealing. The meal was over in short order, and Itachi decided to pick up the tab. It was kind of nice to be treated to lunch. Usually you're the one paying since you're fricken' _loaded_ and the whole group knows it.

Again outside, you were grateful for the first time ever to be wearing your hat. While there had been some initial apprehension about roaming around town in uniform, it turned out to be a non-issue. People here had already become accustomed to the sight of an Akatsuki cloak so both of you were able to wear them along with your hats and be safe from the rain. It was nice to be respected. Being feared is wonderful too; but this was new. Though your instinct was to keep your head on the swivel, you could somewhat refrain from that here.

If anything, pedestrians who caught momentary glimpses of your faces between the white strips of your hats and the high collars of your cloaks looked more in _awe_ than anything else. On occasion you heard murmurings that Amegakure was greatly blessed by their God; to have Akatsuki as their protectors.

“Protectors, huh?” You murmured to Itachi. He didn’t respond, his unseen eyes focused ahead. Was Akatsuki really an organization to be venerated by anyone? 

“Pein-sensei is God here.” You continued, speaking to him quietly. “Konan is their ‘Lady Angel’. What does that make me? The Demon? Or the Devil?” 

Itachi looked at you now, that had caught his attention. “What do you _want_ it to mean?” He inquired pointedly.

“Huh?”

“You are his student.” He went on. “Konan and Pein have been here awhile and have proven themselves. They gave themselves that image and the public went with it. If you become an important figure as well; what would you choose to be?”

“…..” You never thought of it really. It never felt relevant. “I’m not sure. But I don’t think ‘devil’ is too fitting. I’m not sure what really is.” You tilted your head upwards a bit. “Konan has these paper wings; one would guess that’s why she became known as Lady Angel. I saw them only once, long ago. Pein-sensei…his powers are godlike, alright. I can understand that too.” You dropped the topic and your eyebrows knitted together. He didn’t say your assignment was one of secrecy, so… “It bothers me.”

“What does?”

“Between you and me, my assignment is to heal Pein’s alternate bodies. I don’t know if you’ve seen them before, but that is why he sometimes appears as an entirely different person.” You glanced towards Itachi, your eyes encountering the strips of his hat only as both of you continued to walk. The long string of beads and bells rang gently in the rain upon both of your hats. “I know he can probably heal them on his own if he wants to, but yet he hasn’t done so. I wonder why that is; or if he simply hasn’t had the chance.”

“One would think that he'd make time for it. That's important to him, and an integral part of his abilities.” Itachi answered. 

“Agreed.” 

Now it was time to go in opposite directions, and it was too busy out here to bother with public displays of affection. Neither of you had discussed letting others know about your relationship more openly (though clearly most of the others had guessed at your status) so you continued with the behavior of acting as if nothing was happening. You both parted ways and you went back to that room where Pein’s bodies rested. Upon opening the doors and stepping inside, your purple gaze cast from side to side. Twas' the second time you had been in this room and it was not any less impressive. There was a faint odor of blood hanging in the stagnant air, and you swung the door closed behind you before walking ahead and examining the first body. When coming in here before, the lighting was so poor you only noticed that a few of them had been attacked but as it turned out, practically all of them were maimed.

When checking the wounds you noted something extremely bizarre, and then it became increasingly obvious why Pein would choose you over himself to do this. It was due to how they were injured; and _that_ , in and of itself, was troubling. As you leaned close and examined them, you saw that it was energy and not a blade that severed the major arteries; but also cut deep into the chakra gateways and butchered those as well. Your face tightened into a frown, and the Ghost Sigil glowed. You rested a now translucent hand over the largest bloody gash and concentrated. 

These wounds were formed by an energy blade, and last you knew, Madara didn’t use such a technique. At least not one anybody had _seen_ him utilize. This kind of injury is inflicted with the specific purpose of stopping a foe from healing altogether; and ultimately kills them, if death was not the first thing to occur. 

Upon straightening up and examining the other bodies, the same treatment had been given to them as well. You placed a hand over another wound that had one of those black metal bars through it, except it was fractured cleanly. When you tried to heal the wound, that metal rod seemed to draw your chakra to itself and the flesh around it began to heal, but at a slow rate. Your frown intensified, beginning to hurt your face, and you knew now that it was going to be annoying to heal these bodies at all. Those metal rods were meant for a form of conductivity, he tended to use them as weapons. It was peculiar; you’d always assumed that they were piercings but you had no idea these ‘piercings’ were metal poles that were hammered straight in through the corpses. Directly through chakra passages, at that, though some were elsewhere in the body too. Was Pein using them to control the bodies?

You pulled out one half of a broken metal rod and examined it, then activated the Water aspect and misted it clean. Before you did anything you’d have to ask some questions; and you knew Pein would be too busy with his plans right now given the state of the news. With the world in peril of a large scale war; he would be hard at work doing what needs to be done in order to further things in his favor.  
No, you’d need to go speak to someone else. Two someones, even. 

So you pocketed the metal fragment and left, re-fastening your cloak before venturing outside and pulling the hat on over your head. You utilized chakra to expand your awareness and see if you could find either Kakuzu or Sasori’s chakra. You found both, and Kakuzu was much closer; so off you went, taking the high road to the building you sensed him in. After several minutes of travel you landed on a wide windowsill, balanced there carefully, and rapped on the glass of this window. You could see inside; it was probably his apartment. Or someone else’s that he broke into.

After a minute of no response you turned to leave, but the window slid open next to you and you turned back to look from where you were ready to leap to the next building. 

“What is it?” Kakuzu asked, vaguely annoyed.

“I wanted to ask a question.” You said, and hopped down off the windowsill without an invitation. You noted that it was a hallway, with this window at the very end.

“What then?”

“Do you still have that bingo book?”

This question almost caught him off guard, but as you removed your hat, he saw you were quite serious.  
“Yes, why do you need it?”

“I want to see if Yakushi Kabuto is in it.” You answered tersely. Both of you were a little tense; but as you followed him down the hall, you noted that he had been in the middle of counting a briefcase of money. There were some documents here and there, most of them riddled with figures and sums. He controls the finances of the operation, but it was easy to forget that. If you paused to read any of these papers, you wondered if you would be able to understand everything on them after all these years since your parents taught you how to handle large sums of money, both for personal necessity and business. Thankfully, rogue ninja don't have to pay taxes....you would hate to see Kakuzu as a tax collector. Talk about scary.

He crossed the room, extracted a book from the top shelf of a book case, and came back. He handed it to you and sat down at the table where the money was spread out in stacks. “Why do you need to check his information if he's dead?” Kakuzu inquired, watching you flip through the book carefully, appraising each page. These things don’t have an index so you had to go through it the hard way. This was a fair question that he was asking. He could've been a douche and turned you away for interrupting his calculations.

“I’m on an assignment of my own, and I’ve hit a snag.” You responded, eyes still upon the pages. “To put my dilemma plainly, I’m working on cleaning up a mess that Madara left…and yet, I can’t find a single part of this ‘mess’ that indicates Madara was involved.” You stressed the final part, and shook your head, one corner of your mouth pulled tight. “Pein-sensei says that he was, but I’m not sure why he would think that when I pay attention to details.”

“Details, such as…?”

“What jutsus he uses.” You said, continuing to peruse the book of notorious ninja. “I’ve fought Madara, though briefly. He used some funky technique where he could erase his body. Kabuto on the other hand; I’ve seen him use a highly specialized jutsu before but I never lent enough attention to it then. I have a suspicion that Madara wasn't responsible; but Kabuto instead.”

“Pein told me about it.” Kakuzu mentioned casually, which surprised you, and you blinked up at him almost disbelievingly. 

“Huh?”

“When we got here before you did, he ordered us to comb the city and make certain that Madara wasn’t here. He told me on a strictly need-to-know basis as the current acting cell captain at the time of our little expedition.”

“And, uh, why would you _need_ to know?” You asked him after a moment of digesting this information.

“Purely because he realized that you may not be fighting the real Madara and there could be an actual reason to worry that he was still in Amegakure. However, it turns out that you were dealing with the real thing. Pein cannot sense Madara through the rain as long as he stays out of it using his body-erasing jutsu; so we had to try and find him. The fact that a Yoriwara appeared only confirms you were fighting Uchiha Madara himself and not a copy.”

You goggled at him for a moment, clucked your tongue and went back to paging along. “Tch. Go figure.”

“Indeed. Madara has not survived these years for lack of intelligence; but neither have the Yoriwara. Rumor has it that they have been tracking him for over a decade.”

“The same follows for Orochimaru…about surviving, I mean.” You said, at last finding two pages on Yakushi Kabuto. There was a picture of his smirking face, head turned away from the camera at the time, looking elsewhere. He wasn’t much younger in this photograph. You began to meticulously read through the information below the picture and also on the next page.

“But more to the point, Kakuzu, I get the impression that Kabuto isn’t actually dead and this isn’t the last we’ve heard from him.”

Kakuzu was silent, but you didn't take that as your cue become suspicious. You heard no refusal from him, nor was there an agreement, and he continued to stay quiet as you read about Kabuto and learned that one of his best known abilities is the Chakra Scalpel. This matched perfectly with the wounds that Pein’s vessels had. 

“Yes, now I’m sure of it.” You said, snapping the book shut. You offered it to Kakuzu, but he didn't accept it yet. “It must have been Kabuto. I’m not sure if others know how to use the Chakra Scalpel jutsu; but if there are, I severely doubt any of them would be able to get into Amegakure without being noticed. He's the only candidate I can come up with, anyway.”

“Saiya.” Kakuzu began, his tone lower, but not dangerous.

“What?”

“I knew from the start that you made ghost clones back when we captured Kabuto. I know that you were trying to slip one by us in order to have a chance to speak with Kabuto before we discovered him.”

You handed him the book in response.

“Itachi told me that he did not get any information from Kabuto then, because it was not him. It was an animated corpse disguised to look like him, and was being manipulated from a distance.”

“Why didn’t anyone say something?” You asked at last, incredulous.

“It wasn’t our place to do so.” The other said. “I wanted to use the body to get free money; the collection office out there is staffed by morons had no clue that it was a fake. However; I don’t know why he had a clone there in the first place when he could have just as easily not bothered.”

“He could've wanted to throw us off, surely he must have known someone was going after him. We can’t be the only ones trying to bag him.” You tilted your head. “And then…how do we know that Madara is actually dead?”

“Oh, Madara is dead. If what I hear is true, that the Yoriwara were chasing him, they have long ago become accustomed to his tricks and know a false body from his real one. One of them never appears lightly.”

“A cold comfort.” You said, but instead of being shaken, you were filled with queries. Kabuto is most definitely alive then; and what Kakuzu said made a lot of sense. You blinked after a moment, remembering the next thing you wanted to know, and fished out the piece of metal you had taken with you from one of the corpses. “Oh, check this out. Chakrasteel. Were you aware that our fearless leader has these things punched straight into his bodies? And I mean actual bars and spikes, not normal piercings like I originally believed. And here I thought he had some kind of addiction to getting pierced, hah..."

He took it from you and examined the fragment then handed it back. "Chakrasteel of this grade is pricey. It's so hard to make that it is almost as expensive as diamonds, and is about as hard, too."

Your eyebrows went up. "All his piercings are composed of this material. He has six bodies riddled with this stuff." But Kakuzu was unfazed. Akatsuki is comprised of ninja with incredibly unusual bodies, and Kakuzu himself had arguably the strangest biology of the group. 

"Then you have millions worth of metal laying around up there." He resumed counting cash during the conversation. Knowing that Pein is actually a group of animated corpses really didn't shock him. You dropped that part of the subject, it wasn't worth pursuing.

"No joke. My katana and wakizashi were ridiculously expensive, but I figured that's because they were a custom rush order." You lifted a shoulder. "Whatever. In any case, thanks Kakuzu. I'll be going now." You turned and went, also tossing an object over your shoulder to him. He caught it, looked into his hands, and saw that it was his wallet. It felt heavier than before.

At least the visit had been worth his while.

 

_With You…_

 

You had gone to Kakuzu seeking an answer, and you found one. Yet like the hydra of myth, for every severed head two more took its place. The same was true for questions in your head. Madara died, the Yoriwara appeared outside of Kumogakure, and in Madara’s place, Kabuto was becoming the axis of a world of problems...if indeed Pein himself wasn't that axis in all actuality.

Currently you decided to bite the bullet after that interaction. You had gone back to that room and then sat down in the middle of it, and concentrated. Infusing the Shield aspect with the Mystic Hand technique, you made a healing sanctuary that created a large chakra bubble which expanded and encompassed the full room. It would be awhile but you decided to not clown around and heal each one individually—why do that, then you could do it all in one fell swoop? Besides, it's good to tinker with different jutsus, and figuring this one out would be ideal for future days when you could end up having a whole group to heal.

Though what's bothersome is that whenever you pressed out a massive amount of chakra, you felt as if you hit the walls of an invisible box. When you were in Anarchy operating the Hellfire Tempest Jutsu, you felt this same restriction. These walls had very little give to them; but when you used another big jutsu that consumed an unusually large amount of chakra, you felt those same walls wobble just a miniscule bit, fraction by fraction, yet still refusing to lapse apart. 

It was a literal boundary. And whenever you touched its limits, your energy sapped quickly with the termination of whichever jutsu you used, forcing you to need to absorb and regenerate chakra as soon as possible so you could do other things. If only that limitation was gone; you could do _so_ much more. If you had that limit removed, maybe you would've stood more of a chance against Madara and killed him before Kitsuna turned up. 

Hours passed.

 

Later on Pein arrived, as he sensed recently that the chakra routes were reestablished and his ability to control those bodes had been reinstated. When he went in there he saw the ‘sanctuary’ made out of energy like dark light, bluish and almost sinister. Usually your energy was almost completely black, so this was strange, but welcome. He sensed none of the usual poison in this chakra, and the bodies were thoroughly healed. When he approached the wall of the sanctuary however, a spark of energy stopped him short and he realized he could not cross the threshold unless permitted. It was a Shield, forged to land right in the door so there could be no disturbances and the energy would remain pure. You sat in the middle of this room, your back to him, unmoving. 

He waited patiently. Since he attempted once already to pass the barrier, you would detect the disturbance. Before his pale ringed eyes, the sanctuary dissolved into wisps of cobalt chakra shimmering in the air. Even the merest touch of these remnants to his skin removed fatigue. Pein purposefully stepped in and inhaled while the wisps remained, and felt instantly invigorated.

“An interesting jutsu you have, Pein-sensei.” You began, choosing to be the first to speak. “You can possess corpses and make them look, act, even _fight_ as you do. This leads me to believe that I have never met the real Pein.”

His expression continued to register as indifference.

“Those bars pierced into their corpses…clever. You must be able to remotely control them from a great distance away since the metal resonates with one’s own chakra and multiplies conductivity by roughly one hundred times, and amplifies power by double that amount. This also explains your ability to utilize each element and learn every technique in existence, to devastating effect. The only ones that elude you are in connection to kekkei-genkai. Since a jutsu like this truly does not exist for any other; I must say that your Rinnegan is extremely impressive, sensei.”

“Very good.” He commended, now that you were finished. “That is correct.”

“The large concentration of amplifiers in this room allowed me to channel my own chakra without expending much. All I had to do was create a small territory of energy and direct its purpose.” You exhaled serenely, as if continuing to regulate your breathing during meditation. “However, it also allows me to expand my awareness a great deal. I sensed you before you entered the building.”

“If you expanded the parameters of your influence further, you would connect to the rain itself, and know where every person is within it.” He answered, undisturbed by your words. “However, your trick would not have worked had you not attuned yourself with this room as you did earlier.”

“I see.”

“Well done, Saiya.” He complimented. "I appreciate this being done so soon."

“Thank you.” Somehow that praise felt a touch backhanded, as if you were a child being patted on the head, but there was no sense in getting into that. You resisted the urge to curl your lower lip and stood up, brushing your cloak off out of want to do something with your hands. “Now, I ought to be going. There's research to do. And incidentally, it couldn’t have been Madara, whether or not you saw him is irrelevant.”

He said nothing to this, nor did he give an indication that he heard you. He was going to switch to another body. 

“Will I eventually meet the real you?” You asked while standing in the doorway.

“When I feel you are ready, yes.”

“…..” Not the correct answer, but you left, feeling that this ‘when you are ready’ crap was far past 'getting old'. There’s always more training to be had, is that how it is? This man was more of a father to you than your _own_ father was. How freaking messed up is that? No, you don't have daddy issues...but you actually _respect_ Pein (unlike your biological father) and his personality made it hard to warm up to him beyond the student/teacher paradigm. He had a direct and lasting influence on your life. It was a bit frustrating that you knew so little of him when he knew practically everything about you. And lately, you found his character coming into question with certain facts that pop up now and again. But if there was some type of conspiracy at work here you would get to the bottom of it, wherever it led.

More questions kept arising and you would need to discern the answers in a timely manner before things got crazy again. Kakuzu provided a few answers already, but you haven’t spoken to Sasori yet; and that should be your next errand. You merely needed to get Pein’s assignment out of the way before you delved further into figuring out this whole mystery. And since Pein gave no indication that you’d have another mission soon; now was the best opportunity to do what you could on a personal basis.

You were thinking about what was going on, and wondered if keeping notes would be a sound plan. Maybe recording your findings later and formulating theories would be something to do, but for now, you needed to get to Sasori and see what he knew about Kabuto. He had told you once that he worked with Kabuto and Orochimaru. If anyone knew anything about them, it was him. 

There was one feeling you could not shake however: that ‘Kabuto’ had been _waiting_ for you. At least that was the sense you got when you met with him, or what everyone seemed to think was him. That was one elaborate and convincing clone; it even fooled Itachi for a little while there, or he pretended to be stumped anyhow. You knew Kabuto was Orochimaru’s right hand man and personal medic; that meant he was far trickier than anyone gave him credit for. Especially since Orochimaru seemed so comfortable around him every time you encountered them in the past when running from the Grass Country. 

There was nothing on the other side of the equals sign here. It was bothersome and you intended to figure it out.

 _’What exactly was he expecting from me?’_ You thought, trying to remember. Remnants of the conversation floated to the surface of your memory…eternal life and youth. That’s what it had been about. And he definitely had been waiting for you to ask. Come to think of it, he had acted like Kabuto as you knew him, but also exhibited a little behavior was not befitting of his personality. He used a corpse clone, and probably controlled it behind the scenes somehow. The conversation you had was real, but some aspects of that person he used were shining through. Like how they gulped a mouthful of saliva once. As if a nervous or scared. The real Kabuto has nerves of steel and isn't so easily cowed.

 _’This is too weird.’_ You thought to yourself. _’If only I could find out where he is now. I really doubt that Sasori has maintained contact with him.’_

Then you wondered whether or not it was a good idea to ask Sasori. What you were doing now could be misconstrued in many ways; anybody could think that you were double-crossing Akatsuki by seeking out Kabuto. To make matters worse, Itachi and Kisame walked in on that conversation as it was. They heard you. They knew that you wanted information on an incredibly ominous subject from that man; and that you were actually willing to send Hidan and Kakuzu in another direction if he could help you. And of course, Kakuzu was aware of your deception but miraculously chose not to call you out on it. Based on the conversation which took place on the way back to the lair, you wondered if Kakuzu knew what was happening all along, that your loyalty would be called into question. Since it was so far away it was safe to conduct such business safely away from inquisitive eyes and ears.

The truth is, you and Kabuto had many parallels, and you never paid attention to that fact until recently. If you came to the realization a lot sooner, it might’ve been Orochimaru that you sided with instead of Akatsuki, and your life would have turned out very differently. 

For a moment you wondered if Kabuto would’ve taken Itachi’s place, had that happened. Or would you still eventually wind up with Itachi? You wanted that to be the case. But what were you thinking about, here? None of that happened. You cut ties from Kusagakure and went your own way, often engaging in human experimentation where possible and setting loose the failed attempts on society, which rapidly led to others hunting you down. While ANBU, bounty hunters and a handful of your current followers were some of those people, the serpent sannin was also one of these such pursuers. At first you fled, having learned his reputation and did not at that point have the strength to fight him and his overpowered flunkies. But in all actuality, he didn't want to kill you: Orochimaru wanted to _recruit_ you. With his (extensive) health problems and research on the human body branching into eternal life and youth; he needed all the skilled medics that he could get his scaly paws on back then. Who knows? Maybe the same held true now, if he’s still alive.

You had arrived at your place and let yourself in then set a couple bags of purchases down on the kitchen table. While you were out you had picked up a current newspaper (you hated it, but needed one), a handful of tabloids (for giggles), and one boxful of steamed buns from an elderly lady’s stall on the side of a street. This would be dinner for you since today's events had taken longer than you realized, and it was now 7:15pm. Again, you would not be bothered with negotiating the meager contents of your kitchen.

After starting some hot water for tea you removed your cloak and hat, locked up the door and flipped open the paper. 

‘TENSIONS ACROSS THE WORLD INCREASE AS ALL NATIONS BRACE FOR WAR’ declared the headline. Damn the news. Always with a flare for the dramatic, and yet, they weren't wrong. This potential war was going to look like a splash-fest in the kiddy pool once the _real_ fight started. 

As of now, Pein hasn’t gotten around to roping frightened and unsuspecting nations into accepting massive chakra weapons that would only further a greater scheme. But that wasn’t all that was going to happen. Pein would probably end up using Akatsuki as mercenaries. And this meant that he may ask you to go and resurrect some more powerful ninja if the extra manpower was needed. He had been around long enough to know a few names, of course. But this whole plan smelled bad. Pein's idea effectively meant handing back the Tailed Demons (in their dire hours of need) to the people they were stolen from in the first place; and in which case, it was easy to feel as if there was no point to all of Akatsuki's earlier efforts. But if anybody wanted to use those chakra beasts, they'd have to pay to play. And depending on how much they're able to shell out, they could purchase usage of as many Bijuu and/or Akatsuki mercenaries as they wanted, and it would tip the balance of power so tremendously that other countries would be floored into a panic. But this also means that services go to the highest bidder, and more than one nation could hire help. There's nine Tailed Beasts after all, and ten or so S-Class rogues, plus a whole freaking army of mercenaries.

At the idea of possibly being pitted against one of the others, a scowl tore across your mouth. This was not something you wanted to do. Pein was going to use everyone to his advantage like he has been all along. Much as you disliked the idea of going against Pein; you weren’t sure you were up for that kind of mess. So that in mind, there was one thing you needed to learn from him and then you figured your training (from Pein at least) would be thoroughly completed. He said he would teach you one more thing but it never happened. 

Now was another matter entirely and you had done enough for him to call it in as the one and only favor you have ever requested. 

After supper you opened a bedroom window, sat on the edge and extended a hand out into the rain. You closed your eyes and concentrated, willing a miniature sphere of chakra into the palm of your hand, and waited. Sure enough you felt another consciousness touch your own.

 _[What is it?]_ Pein’s voice asked.  
_-I have a favor to ask.-_ You responded.  
A moment’s pause. _[What, then?]_  
_-I want you to show me that jutsu you promised back in Anarchy.-_  
While you felt an element of surprise ring throughout his mental connection, but he seemed alright with it. Pein might have believed that you’d never ask after so long.  
_[Very well. Tomorrow at dusk; meet me outside the room.]_  
_-See you then.-_ You closed the palm of your hand and opened your eyes, and retracted your rain-speckled hand back inside. You opened your hand again and examined the tiny orb of chakra floating a half inch above the lines in your hand. It was black, except it had eerie indigo corona, and a more sinister purple resonated as a spark in the center.

This is your energy. It is dense with malice and poisonous to most anyone. It's the very reason why you never laced your katana or wakizashi with venom, when they conduct chakra anyhow.

Itachi landed upon the wide windowsill you were sitting in and balanced easily next to you. His darkest-before-dawn eyes focused on the blackish purple sphere in your hand. Before you could stop him he reached down and actually picked it up, letting it hover in a half inch of space between thumb and forefinger. You watched.

“Be careful with that.” You warned.

“I do not fear it.” Itachi responded mildly, examining this miniscule orb with his scarlet Sharingan now. Not many got to see what another person’s pure, unaltered chakra looks like. Usually you only see chakra when attacking and even then, it takes on a specific form. This however was nothing. It was compact and formed neatly into a ball. Most can only sum up a messy spark and not conform it to a shape; chakra nature and chakra form both require a high level of skill.

You hopped down off of the windowsill and he followed, still holding the tiny orb where it hovered between thumb and forefinger. Your eyes went back to that and you blinked, a little amazed. “Holding it that long should hurt very badly.”

“It either cannot, or will not.” He responded calmly, undeterred, continuing to study it. You were afraid to ask him anything and break his focus; you suspected that his own chakra was shielding him and it is not a good idea to distract a person holding a ball of pure poison with their bare hands. 

“What’s so interesting about it?” You asked at last, curious what he was seeing that you didn't.

“I wondered why I never fell ill after you healed my eyes. At first I thought your power was not fully mature. Except that can't be so.” He said, eyes not moving from the sphere. “It feels the same as it did back then, perhaps a shade darker if anything.”

“So what’s the verdict?” You wondered, now flopping onto the bed. 

“This chakra of yours is abnormal to begin with. It does not appear to have an elemental alignment. I believe that it will only injure those that you want to harm; although leaves its mark nonetheless, one way or another. My eyes saw best after you healed them back then, but they slowly regressed back to their previous condition. However; they have not gotten any worse; as if something is in the way.”

Your amethyst eyes widened. You had hoped what you did back then was going to stop deterioration of his Sharingan’s condition, period. Instead it healed Itachi temporarily and put a limiter on the amount of damage that could occur. And who knew how long it would last?

“I may still need new light.” He said softly, and you caught sight of his own chakra wrapping around your chakra sphere. His looked like fire in the beginning, but rapidly darkened and both vanished. 

“Damn it…” You cursed. “If only I thought to rip Madara’s eyes out when I had the chance! Then this might not be a problem!”

“There are three of us left in the world who can use the Sharingan.” Itachi said to you, removing his damp cloak. "My brother is my spare. But I don't want to take his eyes from him.”

“There’s Megami too.” You suggested. “Except I don’t know how far she has developed it. I never saw her use her Sharingan much at all; as if she was trying to mitigate the damage. Like I said before; I was once paid to develop a technique to heal damage caused by doujutsu. However; the Uchiha clansmen I worked on only had one or two tomoe; much less the three you have, and certainly none of them had Mangekyou. Chances are, the technique I worked out isn't potent enough for the level of deterioration you suffer.”

“I agree, the damage would be far less for them.”

“They used it a lot though.” You said. “A lifetime of damage from using the Sharingan, lesser though they were.” Then, a twisted smirk. “If my math is correct, and it usually is, they were slaughtered with the others, months after I healed them. I never got to see the lasting results of my technique, in any case."

“….” Itachi sat down. “Madara took his brother’s eyes so he would not need to endure life as a blind man.”

“I imagine it's torture for anyone, especially with a doujutsu.”

“Yes.” He assented. “It can be.”

“So have you given any more thought to the Sasuke problem? Now that Madara is dead, and Sasuke doesn’t seem to care about Konoha or anything like that…do you really have to go through with letting him kill you?”

“I understand that you would like me to say ‘no’. However I’m not certain right now.”

“I don’t want to force you to make a rash decision, but Sasuke won't stop until he finds you. Please, Itachi…don’t be the next person I have to bring back from the dead…” He looked at you, and you made eye contact with him, unafraid of his Sharingan. You held his gaze, pleading with him, hoping with all your heart that he wouldn't go through with this insanity. He knew that you would not let him stay buried if his brother were to succeed. But he offered no response, uncertain of what to say or do. 

“If you won't kill Sasuke; is it possible to take Megami’s eyes instead? I’d even draw her in, I know how to find her, it won’t be a problem. But Itachi, this whole war thing is going to start and we need to get ourselves straight before it _does_. I am going to train with Pein-sensei once more to learn that last ability before it’s too late for me to do so…” You trailed off, realized how frantic you sounded, then drew a breath and modulated your voice. “He may use us all as mercenaries and then we might end up fighting on opposite sides. Then it doesn’t stay business anymore; it turns personal.”

He said nothing, resting a hand on the side of your neck, then slid it to the back of your head and kissed you to shut you up. You were bubbling nonstop about ‘what-if’s’. He knew where you were coming from, but right now, every bottled up concern and worry was gushing out in an avalanche. 

You kissed him back and then broke from it, wrapping both arms around him and placed your head on his shoulder. This was strange, nearly beyond belief. Itachi had never seen you act like this before. Not that he could recall anyway. Frankly it was a relief that you weren't quite as evil as people thought; really, you were afraid to be pitted against him and that was made crystal clear now. Were this about anyone else, you'd probably treat it as business or a friendly competition. Recently you have made peace with the whole group, Itachi watched it happen. You care for your own, you are even known to go far out of your way to do so. There are characteristics that he wasn't so enamored of, but then there are other components of your personality that Itachi realized he absolutely adored.

In a bid to steady your nerves, he placed an arm around your back and leaned his head atop yours. “Stop worrying. I’ve had my own suspicions for awhile now, as have the others."  
“…” You said nothing, choosing to keep snuggled against him; inhaled, exhaled, tried to relax those fluttery nerves. He was still a bit damp from having been outside, but despite that smelled very, very faintly of a scent you couldn't put your finger on; like a musk or a spice. And a hint of something intriguingly, deliciously dark. Maybe it was a mix of those, but whatever it was, the scent worked excellently with his body chemistry. It was comforting, even a touch intoxicating, and you kept your face nestled against the crook of his neck. Occasionally the edge of malefic steel buried within you becomes so sheathed in emotion, you aren't a hundred percent up to snuff, and that doesn't help. What _does_ help, you were learning, is human contact. It wasn't easy to learn how to let others help you, but it was getting simpler. Rather opposite: you were used to being the one who _offered_ help, not the other way around. Most of the time you had to be commanded to accept assistance.

“As it's been said; there is blood in the water.” He went on to say, “Soon we all must fend for ourselves. This nation will be embroiled in conflict, same as the rest.”

“Every man for himself, huh?” You grunted stubbornly against his neck.

Itachi raised his head and looked down atop the crown of your skull. “It hardly needs to be said, but in a nation cobbled together by nothing but fear for its leader, that is exactly the way it will be. It's what Pein is aiming to do. He would have the world united under one banner by anguish.”

You reluctantly straightened up and turned your head towards the window. Still it rained incessantly. You had become so used to it that the sound was drowned out, similar to the ticking of a clock in the background. “And yet, I see utmost respect in the people I pass by when wearing the colors. Respect, reverence, and yes…a healthy touch of fear, although I believe they most associate us with their safety here. Because Konan, who acts like Pein-sensei’s voice in public around here, wears the same thing. And they hang little origami angels everywhere out there…in store fronts, house windows, even inside of merchant stalls, that Lady Angel may bring them fortune and protection. And the 'God' she assists rises above and casts this land in his shadow, tears of their gray past flood the streets, and drown their adversaries.” You almost laughed, trying to lighten up. "Something like that, anyway."

“He thinks that he is a god.” Itachi told you quietly. You thought you detected the poltergeist of scorn haunting his vocal chords. 

“I know he does. And Konan feeds into it. I admit that I did as well for a little while there; but then I realized...” You stopped midstream. There was a long silence during which rain slanted against the window panes, pattering patiently away. He watched it for a little bit before Itachi turned his penetrating obsidian gaze towards your face, awaiting a response. He caught the slow, cruel smirk as it contorted your mouth and crept into the depths of your eyes, as if having come to a realization. What the hell. He'd bite. "What?"

 

“I saw God bleed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rhig: (4/29/2015) Lol, had I remembered to write a note AFTER the chapter...anyway, StR 1 is now complete. In case no one read the notes prior to this chapter, the sequel is called Slighting The Reaper II: The Onslaught Continues, for those interested. I believe there's a link to it as well since I remembered one can make a series bracket here to group fics together when needed. As always, thank you all for the support. <3


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